Over 800 Haj pilgrims vaccinated in Vellore, nearby districts

More than 800 Haj pilgrims were vaccinated free of cost at special camps organised in Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, and Tiruvannamalai districts on Wednesday.

Officials of the Directorate of Public Health (DPH) and Preventive Medicine, which organised the initiative, said that the health teams in these camps will look into complete screening of pilgrims, fitness verification, and vaccination. The camp is held once a year.

The initiative, which will be completed in these districts by Friday, is being done in coordination with the State and district Haj committees. The camp is mostly held at the Collectorate or the district health office due to easy accessibility of these places. “Pilgrims were administered the quadrivalent vaccine against meningitis and were given oral polio drops. All pilgrims over the age of 65 were also administered the influenza vaccine,” K. Satish Kumar, Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS) In-charge, Vellore, told The Hindu.

Among these districts, Tirupattur had the highest number of pilgrims at 320, who were vaccinated at the four-day camp, followed by Vellore (226), Ranipet (190) and Tiruvannamalai (71). The camp, on an average, has two physicians and two nurses.