Rajesh Kumar Behera
Kendrapara, Dec 13: Many students belonging to the minority community have refused to accept the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine in Kendrapara district, especially in municipality areas.
The JE vaccination drive has reached the second phase. Last year the drive was held in Malkangiri, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts. In the second phase 13 districts are being covered from November 27. The drive would end December 22.
The JE vaccination campaign is going on in all government and private schools. Around 4.14 lakh children aged between one and 15 of the district are going to be vaccinated with a single dose of the JE vaccine. Around 2.27 lakh children have been vaccinated till December 12. After the campaign JE vaccine will be included in community health programmes in anganwadi centres. Later, JE immunisation would be provided at immunisation centres.
Children aged between 9 and 12 months would be administered the first dose of JE vaccine and the second dose would be administered when they are between 16 and 24 months old, said Dr Satyabrata Chhotaray, the ADMO and (FW)-cum-District Immunization Officer of Kendrapara.
He said that during the drive several students from the minority community were found refusing to take JE vaccination. Guardians belonging to the minority community were not sending wards to school on JE vaccination days.
But all minority community students have not skipped vaccination. Minority community students whose guardians were educated have encouraged their children to accept JE vaccination. But the uneducated among the minority community have been preventing their wards from accepting JE vaccination, Dr Chhotaray added.
In Kendrapara municipality area large numbers of minority community students have skipped the JE vaccination drive. In Derabish block minority children refused to take JE vaccination in some schools, Dr Chhotaray said.
Immunization teams said most minority community members prevented their wards from accepting JE vaccination as they thought that JE vaccine would make their children impotent and sterile, said Kendrapara CDMO Dr Baisnab Charan Sahu.
Dr Sahu said that it was ignorance that makes people think that JE vaccination would make kids sterile. He said that there was no possibility of such a thing.
All students except four minority community students and two sick students, underwent JE vaccination Wednesday at Manakarpur UP School. Although, a teacher asked the guardians of the four minority community students to allow their children to take JE vaccine, they rudely refused to do so, Prabhati Pradhan, an Assistant Teacher of Manakarpur UP School said.
“Though I told some minority community guardians to allow their wards to go for JE vaccination to avoid Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome they refuse to do so”, said the Principal of a Gopa-based English Medium School.
The schoolswhere most students of minority community skipped the JE vaccination drive in Kendrapara town are Kendrapara Government High school, Madrasa Ashraful Oulm Ramzania, Madrasa Juma Masjid Hanafia, Madrasa Arabia Talimul Islamia, Madrasa Kuasia Habibul Quran and the Jaipura Madrasa. Minority students of a Kusiapala-based primary school and a madrasa in Derabish block also refused JE vaccination, Dr Chhotaray said.
Salim Khan, a minority community leader whose children are studying in a private school said that a message spread in their community that if children are given JE vaccine he/she would become impotent and sterile. He said the administration should create awareness on this in their community about this.
“I refused a female health worker who visited the Madrasa permission to give the JE vaccine Tuesday. I asked students to take the consent of guardians. Some students skipped classes Tuesday. Others said their parents had strictly told them not to take the JE vaccine, said Sheikh Manwar Ali, the Head Maulabi of Madrasa Ashraful Oulm Ramzania.
At three schools in Aul block the headmasters refused to start JE vaccination last week. Later, the matter was taken to the BEO by the health department and the HMs agreed to start JE vaccination, official sources said.
Till Monday about 2,27,352 children were administered JE vaccination. The only side effects were etching and fever experienced by just a dozen children, Dr Chhotaray said.
As per guidelines the JE vaccine cannot be administered to students without the consent of parents. The administration is going to create awareness to achieve 100 per cent vaccine coverage, Collector Reghu G. said.
