Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a detailed review meeting on Wednesday with 48 districts that have reported low first dose Covid-19 vaccine coverage. With over 106 crore vaccine doses administered in the country, over 40 districts have not achieved 50% of first-dose coverage.
To understand the cause and concern, PM Modi will have a detailed review meeting with the district magistrates of these districts. The meeting will also be attended by several Chief Ministers.
As per an official statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, “Immediately after returning to the country after attending the G20 Summit and COP26, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will hold a review meeting with districts having low vaccination coverage, on 3rd November at 12 noon via video conferencing.”
“The meeting will include districts with less than 50% coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of Covid vaccine,” the statement stated further.
Low coverage in Northeast and Jharkhand
Out of the 48, 27 districts to have reported low coverage are in states of the Northeast, including eight districts each in Manipur and Nagaland.
As per data from the Health Ministry, the state of Jharkhand has as many as nine districts with less than 50 per cent first-dose vaccination coverage.
Apart from this, six districts from Maharashtra and one each from Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Haryana have also reported low vaccine coverage.
Second dose to be accelerated
The data collated by the ministry on low first-dose vaccine coverage is from October 27. Additionally, Health Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has also raised alarm over dipping second-dose vaccine coverage.
Reportedly, more than 10.34 crore people across the country have failed to take the second dose at the end of the prescribed interval. The Minister has asked the states to accelerate second-dose coverage.
Out of the eight large states, four have reported a coverage higher than the national average of 31 per cent. These include Gujarat (55%), Karnataka (48%), Rajasthan (39%), and Madhya Pradesh (38%).
However, Uttar Pradesh (22%), Bihar (25%), and West Bengal (30%) are reporting second-dose coverage that is lower than the national average.
Assessing the numbers, Mandaviya in an in-person review meeting held with health ministers of all states stated, “(Our) aim is to cover all eligible with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine by end-November 2021”.
‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign
The government is all set to launch ‘Har Ghar Dastak’- a door-to-door inoculation drive in these districts with the aim of achieving full coverage.
“We’re going to launch a mega vaccination campaign ‘har ghar dastak’. We have decided that for the next one month, healthcare workers will go door-to-door to vaccinate people eligible for the second dose and also those who have not taken the first dose, especially focusing on the poorly performing districts…” announced Mandaviya after the meeting.
The minister also assured the states that adequate vaccine doses are available in the country to meet the required demand. Moreover, at least 120 million balance and unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states.
