Around 1 in 10 healthcare workers in Meghalaya have yet to take the Covid-19 vaccine despite being on the frontline of the fight against the disease.
The subject was raised in the Assembly today.
There are 2,456 unvaccinated health workers in government hospitals and just 49 in private institutions. The total number of government health workers, including ASHA workers, is 28,708.
Shangpliang highlighted an Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) report that said that 93 doctors, 462 nurses and 434 non-medical staff in government service refused vaccination. By comparison, there were only 43 doctors, 144 nurses and 147 non-medical staff in private institutions who refused.
“This picture shows that the hesitancy rate for vaccination is more in government hospitals rather than in private. Why so much hesitancy among government healthcare workers?” asked Shangpliang.
The answer could be that there are more government health workers in Meghalaya than private ones.
Sangma said that his department is making all efforts to conduct counselling and awareness programmes to encourage vaccination. Such efforts have borne fruit, the minister said, with most of the vaccine hesitant coming forward to get the jab after having their doubts cleared.
