Can't let guard down: PM Modi urges citizens to take second Covid-19 dose

Modi on Wednesday stressed on the need to take the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine

With just about one-third of Indian adults getting fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked the state and district administrations to take the help of religious leaders at the local level to convince more people to come forward for the jab.

In an interaction with top officials of 45 districts where the first dose coverage remains less than 50%, the Prime Minister asked the officials to be innovative with their strategies to deal with challenges like rumours and misconceptions.

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"You (officials) can create small videos with religious leaders and circulate them locally (to convince people). All religious leaders support the Covid vaccination,” Modi said.

A similar strategy was adopted during the polio campaign to convince some of the communities that were hesitant to take the two drops of the polio vaccine.

Nearly 78% of the Indian adults have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine more than ten months after the campaign rolled out whereas 35% are fully vaccinated.

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As many as 28 out of 45 low-coverage districts are in the North East with Manipur and Nagaland accounting for eight such districts each. Other states housing such districts are Arunachal Pradesh (6), Assam (1), Chhattisgarh (1), Delhi (1), Haryana (1), Jharkhand (8), Maharashtra (5), Meghalaya (4), Mizoram (1) and Tamil Nadu (1).

With the Centre launching a door-to-door campaign for Covid-19 vaccination, the Prime Minister asked the officers to focus on the second dose as a section of the people might become complacent after taking the first dose and delay the second dose.

The Union Health Ministry last week said more than 10.34 crore Indians who received the first dose of the vaccine, didn’t take the second shot. The states have been asked to follow up on such persons.

Also Read: Nearly 112 crore Covid vaccines given to states, UTs so far

Modi advised the officials as well as the Chief Ministers who also attended the meeting, to organise special camps, involve NCC and NSS cadres and rope in women officials including those from the police force to win over those who avoided the vaccination so far.

India had set a target of vaccinating its 94.47 crore adult population by December 2021, which now looks nearly impossible. But there is a realistic possibility of covering the population with at least one dose of the vaccine.

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