Hero to zero: Dharavi beat two Covid-19 waves, but response to vaccination has been lukewarm

Dharavi famously tamed two Covid-19 waves with aplomb, but officials are now worried about why it is struggling to achieve similar success when it comes to vaccination

Though Dharavi beat two Covid-19 waves quite effectively, the response to vaccination in the area has been lukewarm ever since it started on March 1 this year. Only 20,504 doses have been administered since then. Hence, in order to boost the vaccination drive, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started a door-to-door campaign to register people for it.

A beneficiary gets vaccinated at the Chota Sion centre in Dharavi in April. File pic

Considering the population of the area and the fear of the pandemic, we thought there would be massive crowding at vaccination centres. In fact, initially there was a bit of crowding but only for a few days,” said a BMC official requesting anonymity. “Dharavi has three vaccination centres, each of which gets 100 doses daily, but the turnout is not that encouraging,” he added.

Considering the lukewarm response, BMC officials started a number of initiatives in the area in April and May. Announcements related to vaccinations were made, free bus rides to centres were given and gift hampers were distributed too. But, even these did not help boost the numbers. 

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Though each centre gets 100 doses daily, in the first seven days of June only 866 doses were administered at the three centres. The Chota Sion UHC gave 406 doses, Transit Camp centre gave 248 and SWC centre gave 212. Speaking about the response, Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of G-North ward said, “Turnout is low. Even with the current low supply of vaccines, we don’t see all the doses allotted for a particular day getting utilised.”

“There is vaccine hesitancy in the people of the area. As a local NGO, we reach out to people and urge them to get vaccinated, but many simply refuse to do it. There is a general misconception that even if vaccines are taken there is a possibility of death, in fact many believe that vaccines can lead to death,” said Siddharth Medhe, president of Dharavi Nagrik Seva Samiti. “We try to sensitise people in our area but we have certain limitations. We need a bigger campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated,” he added.

Speaking to mid-day, corporator of ward number 184, Babbu Khan said, “There is no doubt that the vaccination process is slow in Dharavi. There are some misconceptions about it. Many believe that there are no vaccine doses, but in reality, the doses being provided are not getting utilised.”

Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of G-North ward, said, “Slow pace of vaccination in Dharavi is a cause of concern. In April we tried different ways to encourage people, which gave us good results, but now again the response is poor. We have started a door-to-door campaign, which we hope pushes citizens to get vaccinated.

Dharavi resident Sanjeev Hinduja, said, “There are so many vaccines and a lot of confusion over them. I don’t want to take it. I am fine without it.” Another local, Nasir Sheikh, said, “I am physically fit and have not contracted Covid-19 so far. I don’t want to get vaccinated.”

Dharavi in second spot

G-North ward has Dharavi, Dadar and Mahim within its jurisdiction. Dharavi stands second in terms of vaccination figures in the ward. Since March 1, three vaccination centres in Mahim have given 40,681 doses, while Dharavi administered 20,504 doses. Dadar stands last with just 13,355 doses. Dharavi has 20 active cases with a recovery rate of 94.46 per cent. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the area reported a total of 6,844 cases of which 6,464 recovered and 359 died of the viral disease.

Jabs given in Dharavi (as of June 7)

>> Urban Health Centre, Chota Sion (active since March 22) – 17,556 
>> Transit Camp Centre (active since May 7) – 1,839
>> SWC (active since May 12) – 1,109

20,504
No. of doses administered in Dharavi since March 1

Two
Dharavi’s standing on jabs compared to Dadar, Mahim in G-North ward

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