Centre to launch door-to-door Covid vaccination campaign next month

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday announced 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign will be launched over the next one month for door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination in poor performing districts to enthuse and motivate people towards full vaccination against the deadly infection, during a national review meeting with Health Ministers of various states and UT’s according to a statement by the health ministry.

Highlighting the need to accelerate the pace and coverage of vaccination, he stated that there are more than 10.34 crore people in the country who have not taken the second dose after the prescribed interval.  

The Union Health Minister stated that adequate vaccine doses were available in the country, and more than 12 crore balance unutilised doses are available with the states for administering.

“No district should be without full vaccination”, he urged the States. He further added- “Let us aim to cover all eligible with 1st dose of COVID-19 vaccine by end-November 2021”.

The State Health Ministers were requested to ensure continuous oversight on progress of the national COVID-19 Vaccination Programme. Mandaviya urged the State to make regional and local level plans with all the stakeholders to reduce the number of people with vaccination overdue.

He also urged for innovative strategies to encourage them to achieve their targets to review the planning and execution of district-wise plans for coverage of due beneficiaries of second dose as available on Co-WIN portal.

Mandaviya highlighted the vision of the Prime Minister guiding the recently launched PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-BHIM).

“COVID has given us the opportunity to analyse the gaps in our existing health infrastructure. We have also learned that in a federal democracy, the Centre and States working in a synchronised collaborative mode can achieve significant milestones”.

He informed that with an outlay of Rs 64,180 crore, PM-AB HIM, is the largest pan-India Health Infrastructure Scheme and would provide a much-needed fillip to India's capacity to address emergent Public Health issues.

This will give a major boost to India's healthcare infrastructure and make it more resilient, he added.

Mandaviya assured the Health Ministers that the Centre will extend all support and assistance to the States/UTs in matters of health. "In a federal democracy, the Centre and states form a collaborative platform. We should work as a team for ensuring Swastha Bharat, Samruddh Bharat", he said.

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