More number of pregnant women, lactating mothers get vaccinated in Tamil Nadu

As per the latest data from the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, about 50 percent of the total target antenatal mothers for eight months of 2021-2022 have been vaccinated. While there was vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women at the initial stages with only about 15-20 percent of the coverage until July, the officials say that the numbers have improved this month.

Of the 6,74,163 targetted number of antenatal mothers for eight months of 2021-2022, a total of 3,35,535 antenatal mothers have been vaccinated in Tamil Nadu until Aug 23, 2021. A total of 3,30,445 pregnant women received the first dose and 5,090 antenatal mothers received the second dose of the vaccines.

The highest number of 15,119 pregnant women were vaccinated in Madurai, followed by Salem where 14,762 antenatal were vaccinated and 12,696 antenatal mothers were administered with vaccines in Krishnagiri.

"The vaccination has seen a good response after individual counselling sessions before and after the vaccination were introduced to pregnant women to ensure that their doubts and other concerns can be addressed. Many women were confused if they could breastfeed post vaccination or will it lead to a disturbance in the menstrual cycle. These concerns were addressed with the help of counselling," said Dr Vijaya Subramanian, director of Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

As many as 2,42,661 lactating mothers in Tamil Nadu have been vaccinated. In Madurai, the highest of 13,849 lactating mothers have been vaccinated, followed by 12,240 lactating mothers are vaccinated in Tiruppur.

The officials from the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine say that the vaccination drive among pregnant women and lactating mothers is gradually seeing a decline in vaccine hesitancy. "As more number of pregnant women and lactating mothers are getting vaccinated, it also prompts others to come forward. We hope that 100 vaccination among antenatal and lactating mothers can be ensured in the coming months," said Dr T S Selvavinayagam director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.