A number of people coming to vaccination centres to get the jabs or enquire about it are not wearing masks or not wearing them properly, civic officials and officials of government hospitals have said.
The officials have to repeatedly insist that the recipients wear masks before they go into the centres to get the vaccine. Sometimes the officials have to be stern and say that vaccines would not be given if someone is not wearing a mask.
While some people have their masks hanging from their chins, others keep it in their pockets and take them out when civic officials say no one would be allowed inside the centre without a mask.
In a handful of cases, there were people who did not have a mask with them.
“We cannot turn anyone away from the vaccination centre because administering vaccines is an important part in the fight against Covid. At the same time, we cannot allow people to come into a vaccination centre without wearing masks. As doctors of the city’s municipal corporation, it is also our duty to tell people that they have to wear masks,” said a senior doctor, who is in charge of a borough of the CMC.
“In one of the clinics, there were a handful of people who did not have a mask with them. Finally we had to give them masks from the clinic before we allowed them to enter and take the vaccine. But we do not want to make it a norm, then many more people could start arriving without masks,” said the doctor.
The CMC is administering vaccines against Covid-19 in 69 of its 144 ward health clinics.
They have planned to administer vaccines in 80 clinics from April, when everyone above 45 would become eligible to get the vaccine.
CMC officials said they were worried that there would be an increase in the number of people coming to vaccination centres from April, and many of them could come without wearing a mask.
A state health department official said the state-run hospitals were also facing similar problems.
“Many people are coming to take vaccines without wearing masks, but the hospitals are not allowing them to enter inside the vaccination centre till they wear the masks. Most people have the mask in their shirt or trousers pocket. Some of them have it hanging from their chins,” said the official.
Public health expert Abhijit Chowdhury said that wearing masks is a behavioural change that people need to adopt to stay safe.
“If people do not wear masks before taking the vaccine, what will they do after they receive the two doses of the vaccine? Some people are thinking that they can get back the old normal way of living after taking the vaccine shots but that is not right. I think there should be sustained campaign urging people to wear masks,” said Chowdhury.
Public health experts and doctors are repeatedly saying that wearing masks, sanitising hands, maintaining six-feet distance and taking the vaccines are the only ways to stay safe from the novel corononavirus.
Sanjib Bandyopadhyay, a public health specialist and a doctor at Beleghata ID Hospital, said that one should not stop wearing a mask even after taking a vaccine.
“There have been instances of people getting infected with Covid even after taking the vaccine against it. There is no alternative to wearing a mask. A mask will stop the droplets with the virus from spreading when one talks or coughs or sneezes. Wearing a mask reduces the chances of getting infected to a great extent,” said Bandyopadhyay.
Since maintaining the six-feet distance may not always be possible, the best protection is covering the face and nose with a mask, Bandyopadhyay said.
He added that there were still debates on whether the vaccines work against some of the mutated variants of the coronavirus.
“There are examples of people getting infected even after taking the two doses of vaccine. No vaccine can give 100 per cent protection. We must continue wearing masks,” he said.
