New Delhi: Stressing on the need for maintaining a fast pace for the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that there should be no laxity in it. He made the comments at a review meeting on the issue of progress of the Covid-19 vaccination drive.
The Prime Minister lauded the effort of ASHA workers and administration officials adding that if there is any laxity after crossing the one billion mark in Covid-19 vaccination there can be a fresh crisis.
"Progress made so far is due to your hard work. Every member of the administration, ASHA workers worked a lot, walked for miles and took vaccination to remote locations. But if we become lax after one billion, a new crisis can crop up," the Prime Minister said.
"They say one must never underestimate disease and enemies. They have to be fought till the very end. So, I would want that there should be no laxity in the ongoing vaccination drive," said Modi.
Also Read: Centre's vaccination scheme has created 2 classes of citizens in India: Kerala HC
The Prime Minister held the meeting virtually with officials of districts that have recorded low Covud-19 vaccination coverage. The districts with coverage of the first dose below 50% and low coverage of the second dose of Covid-19 vaccination were included in the meeting.
During the interaction, the Prime Minister discussed the issue of vaccine hesitancy and the local factors behind it in detail. He discussed a wide array of ideas that can be implemented for ensuring 100% vaccination coverage in these districts. He spoke about maximising community engagement through religious and community leaders. He exhorted all officials to ensure that the country widens its vaccination coverage by the end of the year and enters the new year with renewed self-belief and confidence.
“Now we are preparing to take the vaccination campaign to each household. With the mantra of ‘Har Ghar Dastak’, knock on every door, every household lacking the security net of a double dose of vaccine will be approached,” he said.
Also Read: India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage exceeds 106.79 cr
The Prime Minister cautioned that while knocking on every house, equal attention needed to be paid to the second dose as well as the first dose. Because whenever the cases of the infection start decreasing, sometimes the feeling of urgency decreases. The urgency in administering the vaccines comes down among the people. “You will have to contact those people who have not taken the second dose despite the stipulated time on a priority basis...ignoring this has created problems for many countries in the world” he alerted.
The Prime Minister held discussions with the district magistrates of over 40 districts in Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and other states with districts having low vaccination coverage.
