E-Paper
Centre urges states to expedite 2nd vaccine coverage as 65 million still overdue
The government’s Har Ghar Dastak (knock on every door) campaign did help reduce the gap as around 120 million beneficiaries were yet to complete the full course when the drive was launched.
With the country completing the first Covid-19 dose coverage, the Centre has reiterated that states need to focus on beneficiaries overdue for the second dose.
“There are still around 65 million beneficiaries who are yet to complete their full vaccine course.This is a cause for concern as only both doses provide adequate protection against the infection,” people familiar with the matter said.
“Even though the number has halved since a few months ago, when about 12 crore people were overdue for their second shot, it is still a significant number. States have been asked repeatedly to identify and contacted the people left,” said a senior central government official on the condition of anonymity.The states have been asked to access data through CoWIN platform, to reach out to such beneficiaries.“CoWIN has all the data broken down till the district level; including phone number of the beneficiary that can be used to contact them,” added the official.
The government’s Har Ghar Dastak (knock on every door) campaign did help reduce the gap as around 120 million beneficiaries were yet to complete the full course when the drive was launched.
The campaign was started on November 3 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Initially, the campaign was launched with special focus on those beneficiaries whose second dose was overdue, to accelerate complete vaccination. Later, the Union ministry of health and family welfare announced that the drive was being extended to the entire country.
“Holding special drive helps in reaching out to those who have fallen through the cracks for whatever reasons,” said the official.
There are an estimated 940 million adults who are eligible to take the shot in the country, according to the government data.
So far, 95,12,13,177 have taken their first dose, and 73,05,32,500 are fully vaccinated in the country under the national Covid immunisation programme that was launched nationwide on January 16, 2021.
“It is necessary to complete the regimen depending on what the recommended dosage is: two-dose, three-dose or even a single shot vaccine, to get the maximum protection. Although first dose will provide some protection, still it is necessary to complete the course,” said Dr GC Khilnani, former head, pulmonary medicine department, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.
The vaccination drive was also expanded for children between 15-18 years on January 3, this year. The initial response among teens was 65%.
“Timely completion of Covid-19 vaccination schedule is important to confer full protection to the recipients. Hence, it is important that the coverage of second dose among adolescents is reviewed daily at your level at state/UT and similar review is undertaken at district level as well,” the letter by Union health secretary, Rajesh Bhushan, read.
