<p>A gradual fall in the daily Covid cases in the past few weeks is not good news for BBMP officials. The growing complacency among the adult population towards the second dose of the Covid vaccine across Bengaluru has left Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials worried. An estimation by BBMP officials revealed that a whopping 6.6 lakh people were overdue for the second dose as of Saturday.</p>.<p>Pointing to the rising number of defaulters, a senior BBMP official attached to the health wing told <span class="italic">DH</span> that citizens have been lax with protocols considering that the infection rate is consistently low. “The fear among the public has come down drastically due to consistent dip in cases. At the peak of the second wave, people were thronging vaccination centres. But now, despite our staffers going to citizens’ doorsteps, many of them are not interested in taking the second dose,” the official said.</p>.<p>Officials said the 6.6 lakh people would have taken the first dose out of fear. “But after 12 weeks, as the city is returning to normalcy and all sectors have resumed normal business, people are not worried about completing the vaccination. However, we are reaching out to all defaulters to get them to vaccination points,” the official said.</p>.<p>Officials also revealed that a small percentage of the population is also worried about possible side effects. “A few of them who suffered fever and headache are now avoiding the second dose,” a vaccinator from the West Zone said.</p>.<p>BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said, “Officials are identifying overdue citizens in every ward. BBMP call centres are constantly calling them up and motivating them to get jabbed for the second time.” Besides, the civic body is also trying to create awareness about the need and advantages of complete vaccination.</p>.<p>Dr K V Trilok Chandra, Special Commissioner (Health), BBMP said, “Our block- and lane-level vaccinators are visiting every house to identify citizens who may have been left out to create awareness. They have been persuading such citizens to get vaccinated immediately.”</p>
<p>A gradual fall in the daily Covid cases in the past few weeks is not good news for BBMP officials. The growing complacency among the adult population towards the second dose of the Covid vaccine across Bengaluru has left Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials worried. An estimation by BBMP officials revealed that a whopping 6.6 lakh people were overdue for the second dose as of Saturday.</p>.<p>Pointing to the rising number of defaulters, a senior BBMP official attached to the health wing told <span class="italic">DH</span> that citizens have been lax with protocols considering that the infection rate is consistently low. “The fear among the public has come down drastically due to consistent dip in cases. At the peak of the second wave, people were thronging vaccination centres. But now, despite our staffers going to citizens’ doorsteps, many of them are not interested in taking the second dose,” the official said.</p>.<p>Officials said the 6.6 lakh people would have taken the first dose out of fear. “But after 12 weeks, as the city is returning to normalcy and all sectors have resumed normal business, people are not worried about completing the vaccination. However, we are reaching out to all defaulters to get them to vaccination points,” the official said.</p>.<p>Officials also revealed that a small percentage of the population is also worried about possible side effects. “A few of them who suffered fever and headache are now avoiding the second dose,” a vaccinator from the West Zone said.</p>.<p>BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said, “Officials are identifying overdue citizens in every ward. BBMP call centres are constantly calling them up and motivating them to get jabbed for the second time.” Besides, the civic body is also trying to create awareness about the need and advantages of complete vaccination.</p>.<p>Dr K V Trilok Chandra, Special Commissioner (Health), BBMP said, “Our block- and lane-level vaccinators are visiting every house to identify citizens who may have been left out to create awareness. They have been persuading such citizens to get vaccinated immediately.”</p>
