Covid vaccination centres in the city are witnessing a low turnout, a trend that has coincided with declining new cases and less severity of the disease among those infected.
But doctors and public health experts stressed that people should keep in mind that vaccination was the main reason why most people who contracted Covid in the third wave escaped with mild symptoms.
The doctors are advising those who are eligible for the booster dose to get the shot. Those who are partially vaccinated should take the second jab.
Healthcare and frontline workers and people who are 60 years or older and have comorbidities are eligible for the booster dose. The eligible persons can take the dose 39 weeks after the second dose.
An official of Kolkata Municipal Corporation said the 140 Covid vaccination centres of the civic body were witnessing turnouts lower than expected.
The picture is worse at private hospitals. An official at the RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences said only about 50 booster doses were being administered at the hospital on an average every day.
At the three AMRI hospitals in the city, only about 120 people are getting vaccinated daily.
Public health expert Abhijit Chowdhury warned that people should not allow the virus to befool them.
“WHO has said the pandemic is not yet over. While we have to get back to our normal routine, we must follow the two basic safety measures. These are wearing a mask and getting fully vaccinated,” said Chowdhury, a member of the Bengal government’s Covid task force.
“We cannot say with certainty how the virus will behave in the coming days. We have to stay guarded at least for another six months to see how the virus behaves.”
It has been proven by now, Chowdhury pointed out, that each dose of a vaccine gives “very good protection for about six months from the day of vaccination”.
“If the elderly and those with comorbidities take the booster dose now, it will give enhanced protection for at least six more months,” he said.
Another expert said less severity of the disease during the third wave had led to a belief among many that Covid would continue to behave in a similar manner.
“Till we have enough evidence to say with certainty that the virus would not be more harmful, vaccination will remain a key tool to fight the virus,” said the expert.