Health Minister Banna Gupta on Thursday launched State’s first vaccination drive against pneumonia and claimed that the immunisation programme for infants will work as a protective shield against Covid-19, which according to researchers, was likely to affect children during a feared third wave.
“The vaccination drive against pneumonia will prove to be a milestone in our State’s fight against Covid-19. By administering Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) to infants, we will protect several children from pneumonia, which causes fatal respiratory disfunctions,” Gupta said while launching the statewide immunisation programme.
Gupta claimed that patients of pneumonia and Covid-19 showed similar symptoms, and in some cases, Covid patients developed pneumonia, which proved fatal. The vaccination, he added, would boost immunity of the children and protect them from several bacteria-borne diseases as well.
The Government will provide PCV doses to children free of cost under its Universal Immunisation Programme in Jharkhand. So far, beneficiaries had to pay Rs 1,600 for each dose of the Pfizer-made vaccine available in the market, which mounted financial pressure on the people from rural Jharkhand.
After launching the vaccination drive, the health minister urged Jharkhand residents not to panic if their infants had mild fever or body pain after the immunisation.
“Mild fever or body ache are common side effects of any vaccine. Please do not panic if your child has mild fever after the dose. Remember that the vaccine will protect them from many severe diseases,” he said.
Health Secretary Arun Kumar Singh said that pneumonia was transmitted from one person to another through coughing and sneezing. Breathing trouble, coughing, fever and body ache were some of the common symptoms of pneumonia, which were also common in Covid patients, he added.
“At least 8 lakh people die of pneumonia every year globally and the toll is 1.27 lakh in India. This immunisation programme will certainly prove to be a major step towards protecting our children and ensuring a healthy life for them,” Singh said.
As per data with the health department, at least 77,200 doses of PCV have been distributed among the 24 districts to run the immunisation programme. The three doses of the vaccine will be administered to infants at the age of six weeks, 14 weeks and nine months.
The vaccine doses will be administered at all government hospitals, Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs) and other vaccination camps set up by the Government. Parents of the beneficiaries will have to carry their Mother Child Protection (MCP) cards to the vaccination centres and get the jabs free of cost. Jharkhand will be the seventh Indian state to launch this immunisation programme.