Karam Prakash
Tribune News Service
Patiala, August 3
A special drive to jab pregnant women seems to have faltered because the state government, even after a month of the launch of the drive, has no record of the vaccinated women.
The Health Department said it had not been able to collect data from the ground. Dr Rajesh Bhasker, state nodal officer, said there was no provision on the online portal to fetch data of expectant mothers. He said, “It is difficult to ask beneficiaries if they are pregnant.”
Dr Bhasker said they had been trying to get details about pregnant women from the respective senior medical officers, but had not been successful so far. Around 58 pregnant women have already lost lives across the state owing to Covid-induced complications since the outbreak. Besides, many newborn babies delivered by Covid-positive women have died.
It is learnt that pregnant women are reluctant to get the jab, especially in rural areas. “Though the government has allowed vaccination of pregnant women, there is no study on the possible side-effects on newborns,” a woman said.
Dr Veenu Goyal, District Immunisation Officer, said, “There has always been some hesitancy at the initial stage.”
No record of jabbed pregnant women in Punjab
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