State Health Minister Banna Gupta launched Jharkhand’s maiden pneumococcal vaccination drive on Thursday and said the immunisation programme for infants will work as a protective shield against Covid-19, a third wave of whihc scientists do not rule out.

“The vaccination drive against pneumonia will prove to be a milestone in Jharkhand’s fight against Covid-19. By administering PCV (Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine) to our infants, we will not only protect them from pneumonia but also provide them a safety net against Covid-19,” Gupta said while launching the immunisation programme online.

The health minister 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 children and protect them from several bacteria-borne diseases as well.

Gupta also urged Jharkhand residents not to panic if their infants had mild fever or body pain after 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.

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.

“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,” said state health secretary Arun Kumar Singh.

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 77,200 doses of PCV have been distributed among the 24 districts to run the immunisation programme, health officials said. 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.