Kerala: Tribal Panchayat Sheds Hesitancy Towards Vaccination, Brings Down Positivity Rate

The tribal panchayat of Kuttumpuzha village in Kerala has recorded a stunning turnabout as it successfully brought down the Test Positivity Rate(TPR) from 65 per cent during the peak of the second wave to below 7 per cent in the present.

Surprisingly, withstanding the high TPR during the second wave, the panchayat kept fatalities at only 12, including any tribal person. The village panchayat has more than 26,000 people, out of which 4315 are tribal persons.

More than 80 per cent of the tribal inhabitants of the village have received their first jab, while more than 8 per cent have gotten their second jab until now. The high vaccination rate is most likely what brought about the extraordinary change in the village.

Kuttampuzha Panchayat President Kanthi Vellakkayyin told The Hindu, "We found clusters in tribal population Kunjipura, Thalavechupara, Pera and Variyath probably after the community came together for rituals. We moved them on war footing to 10 domicile care centres, including those in our panchayat and neighbouring panchayats and Kothamanglam Municipality."

Vaccination- A Priority

The area with strict restrictions, including complete lockdown for days at a stretch, has more or less returned to normalcy. The panchayat is now focussing its attention on vaccinating people in three major categories of over 60 years, over 45 years, and 18 to 44 years. Though the vaccination has been opened up to all categories, the 60 plus age group remains a priority.

This comes as a piece of good news when people in several villages of the country are hesitant to get vaccinated.

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