Make district-wise plan for 1st COVID vax dose; aim to give 2nd jab by Nov-end

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday reviewed the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ vaccination drive with health ministers of all states, union territories. The Health Minister directed districts to focus on administering the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to all due beneficiaries by November-end.

Mandaviya asked District Magistrate and District Immunization Officer to prepare a district-wise plan for completion of the first dose of vaccine to the eligible population. The ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign, which was rolled out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 3, will end on November 30.

The Centre has pitched to avoid the expiry of vaccines. The minister said states, UTs must ensure zero expiries of the vaccine and Early Expiry First Out (EEFO) must be followed. The shelf-life of Covishield and Covaxin has been increased from 6 months to 9 months and 12 months respectively by the DCGI.

As per the Health Ministry data on COVID-19 vaccination, 74.22 crore adults have been vaccinated with the first dose, i.e. 79 percent of the adult population. The second dose has been administered to 34.86 crore adults, i.e., 37.1 percent population.

The data stated that only three states vaccinated more than pan India adults with the first dose – Madhya Pradesh (91 percent), Assam (86 percent) and West Bengal (81 percent). Only four states have vaccinated adult population with the second dose more than pan-India. These states are Arunachal Pradesh (55 percent), Madhya Pradesh (40 percent), Chhattisgarh (39 percent) and Assam (37 percent). CNBCTV18