Ensure No Citizen Is Left Unvaccinated Against COVID-19: Union Health Minister To States, UTs

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday (November 11) said all the state and union territories should work together in a collaborative spirit to give COVID-19 pandemic the last mile effort, informed sources. The Union Minister said this during the meeting with state and union territories health ministers on the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ COVID19 vaccination campaign. “In the national interest, all states and UTs must work together in a collaborative spirit to give this in the last-mile effort. So that no household, no citizen is left unvaccinated in the country,” said Mr Mandaviya.

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He also said that the CoWIN can be used to prepare district-specific action plans.

We should not think that COVID is over. Cases are rising globally, ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign being monitored daily. CoWIN can be used to prepare district-specific action plans. CoWIN portal to focus on expiry of vaccines, he said during the meeting.

He further said that in countries like Singapore, Britain, Russia, China cases are rising despite more than 80 per cent vaccination. He also upgraded states to ensure all eligible population gets the first dose and more than 12 crore are also covered for the second dose during the Har Ghar Dastak campaign should also be covered. Most of the state and union territories health ministers and senior representatives were present in the meeting with Union Health Minister.

With ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign, the Centre is targeting to complete maximum single dose and second dose adult COVID-19 vaccination. It was launched on November 2 on the occasion of Dhanwantari Diwas.

The health ministry today informed that 110.23 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. The Centre has provided 1,20,08,58,170 vaccine doses to states and union territories so far, through free of cost channel, and through the direct state procurement category, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday. According to an official release, 16,74,03,871 balance and unutilized COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories to be administered.

Also Read: Covaxin For Children Will Take Some More Time For Final Approval: Sources

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.