"Go Door-To-Door, Take Religious Leaders' Help": PM On Vaccinations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said Covid vaccines should now be taken door-to-door and there should be equal focus on the second dose. For this campaign, he suggested that religious leaders and youth organisations like National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme also be roped in.

Several states, including Maharashtra, have been asking the Centre to allow door-door vaccination, especially for people who are ailing or otherwise unable to visit vaccination centres.

Today, at a virtual meeting of Chief Ministers and officials of states where the vaccine coverage is less than 50 per cent, PM Modi said:  "Till now all of you have made arrangements for taking the people to vaccination centers. Now vaccines should be taken to every door, there should be door-to-door vaccine.".

Magistrates of more than over 40 districts across Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, and other states that have low vaccination coverage were at the meeting. Chief Ministers of these states also present on the occasion.

"Under the free vaccine campaign, we have administered about 2.5 crore vaccine doses in a day. It shows our capacity," he said.

Now the motto is 'Every home vaccine, door-to-door vaccine'. We have to reach every house with this spirit, the Prime Minister said.

"We have to focus on every village, every town. If you have to make a different strategy for each village, do it... you can form teams of 25 people. You can also take help of NCC and NSS. We have to make more and more people aware," the Prime Minister said.

He suggested that the officials along with implementing door-to-door vaccination, also ensure that the people take their second dose."Because whenever the cases of infection start decreasing, sometimes the feeling of urgency decreases. People start feeling -- what is the hurry, we will get it," the Prime Minister said.

At the recent G20 summit in Rome, the Prime Minister had said India has administered one billion doses. According to government figures, around three-quarters of adults in the country of 1.3 billion people have had one shot and 30 percent are fully vaccinated,

But earlier this week, the Prime Minister's office had announced the meeting, saying it would be attended by officials of districts that have less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of Covid vaccine.

The government aims to fully vaccinate the country's adult population by the year-end.