The Union Health Ministry has flagged concerns regarding the considerably slow pace of COVID-19 vaccination across states and UTs and has urged them to significantly expedite the pace towards full vaccination coverage by saturating all eligible beneficiaries. This was communicated to all states and UTs by Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, as he reviewed the status of COVID vaccination with health secretaries and NHM MDs of states and UTs through a video conference (VC) today.
Highlighting the urgent need for an intensive ‘Mission Mode’ push to COVID-19 vaccination across the country to accelerate the recent placid momentum, the Union Health Secretary has advised them to plan for a two-month-long “Har Ghar Dastak” campaign 2.0 during June-July, with detailed district, block, and village-level plans. The objective of the ‘Har Ghar Dastak 2.0’ Abhiyan is to vaccinate and saturate the eligible population groups for first, second, and precaution doses through door-to-door campaigns, with focused campaigns for old age homes, schools/colleges including the out-of-school children (for focused coverage of children aged 12-18 years population), prisons, brick kilns, etc. The sub-optimal coverage of persons aged ≥ 60 years with precaution doses, which renders them vulnerable, along with the considerably slower speed of coverage in the 12-14-year-old cohort, was pointed out. States/UTs were urged to undertake effective monitoring with micro-plans based on due lists of all eligible beneficiaries. They were also urged to review the administration of precaution doses to the 18-59-year-old age group with the private hospitals on a regular basis.
The Union Health Secretary stressed a clear and effective communication strategy for increasing the pace of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination, noting that customized regional communication best practices have yielded appreciable results in India’s highly commendable COVID-19 coverage of over 191 cr doses. Focus on regional influencers, community leaders, innovative campaigns, etc., was highlighted.
With data on state-wise availability of vaccines vs. due beneficiaries, states/UTs were informed about the stock of near-expiry vaccine doses lying unused with them. Underscoring that the COVID-19 vaccine is a precious national resource, they were strongly advised to ensure that there is no wastage of COVID-19 vaccines at any cost. This must be ensured through active monitoring and on the basis of the “First Expiry First Out” principle, where doses that expire earlier should be used for vaccination first. Pointing out that a supply of vaccine doses has been made to states/UTs as per their demand since Dec 2021, they were advised to first use the unused balance doses over the coming months of May, June, and July.
It was pointed out that in some states, persons who wish to travel abroad and seek to take a precaution dose within 90 days of the second dose are being asked to furnish proof of the intended foreign journey. The Union Health Secretary reiterated that under no circumstances should any COVID-19 vaccination center or any state government insist on any documentary proof of foreign travel for those who are seeking a precaution dose ahead of their travel abroad. Communication in this regard has already been shared with states/UTs.