Four districts in Maharashtra directed to enhance vaccine coverage for zero-dose children

To reach out to zero-dose and under-vaccinated children, Maharashtra, as per the directions of the Government of India, has implemented initiatives under ‘Mission Indradhanush’ and ‘Intensified Mission Indradhanush’ among others

In a move to eradicate vaccine-preventable diseases, the state government on Tuesday directed four districts in the state to enhance the vaccine coverage for zero-dose children, officials said. The four districts include Pune, Mumbai, Thane and Nashik which have a large number of zero-dose children.

Zero-dose children in India are those who have not received a single dose of the pentavalent vaccine till the age of one year. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Zero-dose children in India are those who have not received a single dose of the pentavalent vaccine till the age of one year. The first dose of the pentavalent vaccine is given only after a child is six weeks’ old. The second and third doses are given at 10 and 14 weeks of age. To reach out to zero-dose and under-vaccinated children, Maharashtra, as per the directions of the Government of India, has implemented initiatives under ‘Mission Indradhanush’ and ‘Intensified Mission Indradhanush’ among others.

While overall vaccine coverage in Maharashtra is high and the percentage of zero-dose children is meagre, the number of zero-dose children in the abovementioned four districts looks significant due to the dense population of these districts.

A state-wide review meeting was held on Tuesday regarding the immunisation of zero-dose children. The meeting was attended by officials from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the state health department; and municipal officials from Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Kalyan-Dombivali, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar and Mira-Bhayandar, officials said.

Dr Govind Chaudhary, state immunisation officer, Maharashtra, said that immunisation coverage across the state including the said four districts is good. However, due to the dense population of these districts, the meagre percentage of zero-dose children includes a large population. “These four districts have been included as challenged areas for absolute immunisation,” he said.

“As per the directions of the officials now, these municipal corporations have been asked to conduct house-to-house surveys for head counts of the zero immunisation children. The children will be given the DPT vaccines as per the guidelines of the national immunisation programme. Challenges for full immunisation coverage include geographic disparities, migration, and socio-economic barriers,” said Dr Chaudhary.

Dr Rajesh Dighe, city immunisation officer, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), informed that in Pune city, the number of zero-dose children is around 3,000 which is very small as compared to the city’s population. “However, our aim is towards absolute immunisation,” he said.

“This time, the ANM will undergo training for the immunisation programme for zero-dose children along with data management for supportive supervision application. The help of the U-WIN portal will be taken for the immunisation of these children. Most of the zero-dose children are from the migratory population and have moved out of the city,” he said.