Tag: Health Workers At Risk

Counsellor at A Community Health Centre in Moradabad

‘Vaccine’s Only Side-Effect Was Mild Fever Overnight’

By LokMarg

Saroj Kumar, 49, a family welfare counsellor and frontline worker amid Covid-19 in Uttar Pradesh, is feeling relieved after receiving the vaccine on the first day of the immunisation drive

I work as family welfare counsellor at a Community Health Centre in Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh) and I can proudly say that healthcare sector workers like us have been the backbone of India’s fight against coronavirus. We faced the virus day in and day out without fear, hours on end.

It was therefore a big relief when the government announced that health professionals and other frontline workers would be vaccinated on priority. As a healthcare professional I was among the people to be vaccinated on January 16, the first day of the immunisation drive.

We had been asked to register ourselves a day prior to the vaccination and post-registration, I was told to reach the designated health centre for the serum shot. I reached the centre at 12:30 pm where my temperature and oxygen levels were checked the first thing at the gate. Next, I was given hand sanitisers and waited for my turn.

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Once I was administered the vaccine jab, which hardly took a minute, I was kept under observation for around half an hour at the centre. Two girls who were making a note of the entry and exit timings of the vaccine beneficiaries, also checked if any of the vaccinated person showed any discomfort or adverse reaction. We had been told that there could be mild side-effects.

Saroj Kumar (wearing a facemask and inset) took a selfie while waiting for the vaccine

My workplace (the very centre I was vaccinated at) is nearly 60 km from home. On the vaccination day, I took the regular bus and faced no discomfort per se on the way. However, I ran mild fever after reaching home around evening. The fever lasted overnight and in the morning my body temperature returned to normal. I am feeling fit as a fiddle now.

During the pandemic when public transport wasn’t available, reaching my workplace was tough. So I had requested to be temporarily allowed to work at a health centre nearer home. The authorities were considerate and I was assigned work at the Chief Medical Office’s office closer home.

My new role was to take calls at the Help Centre. Since it was the beginning of the pandemic, we had to field hundreds of calls each day. So, I can tell you there was much anxiety among people and patients about both the pandemic and its prospective treatment or vaccine.

ALSO READ: A Vaccine Of Hope

Now, I have been working with Covid-positive patients who are isolating at home. Every morning, a doctor, I visit these patients in our district and administer medicine to them as well as monitor their condition. Covid is contagious, but for most people, not deadly. Yet, people are scared as it has caused so many deaths.

I am glad that people like us will now feel completely free and safe after the twin vaccination shots, since we meet many Covid positive patients every day. I am not scared of the virus, but I do have a family of four to take care of. The vaccination process has brought me a lot of mental relief. Given how successful our polio vaccination programme was in the past, across the length and breadth of our country, I am sure we will win the fight against Covid too.

As Told To Yogmaya Singh

Moradabad

‘Even Women Were Throwing Stones At Medical Team’

By LokMarg

Sanjeev Thakur, a 32-year old healthcare professional, braved a mob attack when his team went to quarantine a family in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh on April 15

I work as a pharmacist at the Community Health Centre, Thakurdwara, in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. I was part of the team which made national news after coming under attack from a stone-pelting mob on April 15 when we had gone to quarantine a family. Here is how things unfolded on that day.

Around 12 pm, we were informed by our seniors to go to an area called Nawabpura and put on quarantine a 22-strong extended family, which had lost a 49 year-old male member to Coronavirus. We had heard stories of health workers being mistreated when enforcing quarantine, but it never thought it could happen to us.

A five-member medical team, led by Dr SC Agarwal and comprising two pharmacists and two ambulance staff reached the spot along with 12-14 policemen, including the Nagphani Station House Officer. This is a standard procedure after health workers were targeted elsewhere in the state.

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The affected family requested us to quarantine the females and children at home while the adult would come to the government quarantine facility with us. Since their consent was secured, the SHO left to attend another urgent matter.

Our team had drawn attention and a few people came to enquire about the disease. Dr Agarwal was answering the queries of a few locals and the potentially infected men from the family were entering the ambulance, when suddenly people a few houses apart from the spot started pelting us with stones. They were shouting abuses and threatening us.

A little later, the womenfolk also joined the stone-pelting. I was aghast over the fact that the police and medical staff were being targeted by the same people whom they had come to save. I called the SHO and requested him to rush back immediately to Nawabpura as the mob surrounding us had swelled to about 500 people. We were scared for life.

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As the stones rained, Dr Agarwal got hit and badly injured. I somehow managed to put him inside the police vehicle. My colleague Atar Pal Singh was also injured and I also suffered a few blows over my back. Thankfully, the SHO and police team returned to the spot.

The ambulance staff were still missing so I requested the police vehicle to take Dr Agarwal immediately while I would locate the rest of my team members. I soon found that the staff had escaped to safety and the men who were to be quarantined had also gone home. I guardedly paced on foot to Zia Hospital, where Dr Agarwal had been taken.

Meanwhile, the news of attack on our team spread like fire. There was a deluge of calls on my phone from family, friends and relatives. In my seven years of sarkari duty, this was the toughest day I had ever seen. The incident had left me shaken.

ALSO READ: ‘Lockdown Has Turned Me Into A Beggar’

At our Centre, the Chief Medical Officer took cognizance of the matter and sent another medical team to Nawabpura again to bring the suspects to the quarantine facility. This time a Rapid Action Force (RAF) team accompanied them. This time things went smoothly.

I merely wish to tell people that they must not panic in such times and have faith in the medical staff. We are all in the fight against coronavirus together. Coronavirus is as new for the medical fraternity as it is for the common man. Do not listen to rumours. Trust your government for information and resolve.