Covid-19, it's vaccine and Senior Citizen

Terms of Reference:

The report was conducted by a committee consisting of:

Chairperson: Dr. Deepak Joshi

Members: Dr. Amit Patel, Dr. Raj Kumar, Dr. Sonali Raut, Ms. Simran Jain, Mr. Salman Shaik

The survey has been conducted in Mumbai city from 19 January 2021 to 20 February 2021.

Private Vaccine Centres including 3 Hospitals namely were surved by the committe;

1)Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre

2)P. D. Hinduja National Hospital & Medical Research Centre

3)Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute

Introduction:

After recent successful trials of the new covid-19 vaccine the vaccine is now available to the citizens of India. Government needed to to check the response of the people to whom the vaccine is given, thus they were included in the priority list. Senior citizens above the age of 60 were also included in this priority list.Thus this report is based on senior citizens who are been vaccinated. This report not only takes in concentration the number of senior citizens getting vaccinated but also their responses and effects of the vaccine.

Procedure:

The survey committee made 18 zones including various private hospitals and health centers. In this survey number of senior citizens were analysed. The actual age of the senior citizen was recorded in the analysis. The committee made sure that the survey is up to the point. After the vaccine has been given to the senior citizen the response was recorded. Committee also introduced a small survey in the form of questionnaires to the senior citizens. On the site of vaccination observations were made for the working of the whole system.

Findings:

According to the survey the number of senior citizens resident in the area, and the senior citizens who got vaccinated was in the ratio 4:1. Very less senior citizens participated in this vaccination. The committee found out that it may be because of senior citizens facing other diseases or may have got scared. The senior citizens were made to wait in long queues and some have had to be rushed to the nearest hospital wards for treatment. The Zonal vaccine centers have been negligent when it comes to patient care. The Committee further noticed a lack in awareness in the aftereffects of the vaccine and the results it might produce. Among the people studied 130 complained of fever and severe cold a few days after the vaccine was taken and it resulted in a tussle at the centers between family members and center staff. According to the observations of the Committee the staff were ignorant of the complaints and further resulted in driving these people out.

Conclusion:

After having surveyed zonal centers in the time span of a month, the Committee came to an end result that the Zonal Centers are understaffed and poorly managed and because of this it has resulted in bad patient care and improper handling. Though government centers have in fact been not up to the mark, The result was not to the mark as expected. Among the older people and on-site, right information haven't been given to them.

Recommendations:

The committee recommends for more number of vaccination centers.As crowd was observed near the vaccination center. It would help in a faster and efficient vaccination program. Committee also suggested promoting vaccination on national level advertising, which will help in raising awareness of the covid-19 vaccine.

Bibliography:

IVIR Committee Report

Mumbai Age Group Data

Signature:

Dr. Raj Kumar