Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told a group of chief ministers and district magistrates that Covid vaccines should now be taken door-to-door, a demand already made by many states.
Modi held a virtual meeting focussed on 45 districts spread over 11 states and one Union Territory where less than 50 per cent of the population had received the first vaccine dose and also had unsatisfactory second-dose coverage.
“Till now all of you have made arrangements to take people to vaccination centres. Now, vaccines should be taken to every door,” Modi told the meeting, pitching for “Har ghar teeka, ghar ghar teeka (vaccines for all households)”.
He urged the district magistrates and other officials to work with the spirit of “har ghar dastak (knocking on every door)” to ensure full immunisation with both doses.
“Now we are preparing to take the vaccination campaign to every household. With the mantra of ‘har ghar dastak’, every household lacking the security net of a double dose of vaccine will be approached,” the Prime Minister said.
Maharashtra and several other states had in the past urged the Centre to allow door-to-door vaccination, pointing to vaccine hesitancy and the inability of elderly and ailing people to travel to jab centres.
“The doors of every house whose members have not received the second dose should be knocked,” Modi told the chief ministers, calling for use of innovative ideas to ensure full inoculation.
Several health experts have expressed concern over people not turning up for their second dose although they were overdue.
The states that were represented at the meeting included Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
Recalling his meeting with Pope Francis when he was in Rome for the G20 summit, Modi called for taking the help of religious and community leaders and youth organisations like the National Cadet Corps when district magistrates pointed out that low vaccine coverage was due to hesitancy among people swayed by rumours.
The DMs also cited challenges posed by weather and difficult terrain.
Responding to this, Modi said: “You will have to remember that states that have covered 100 per cent of the eligible population with the first dose also faced challenges. If you have to prepare a different strategy for each village, do it.”
The Centre had recently rung in the administration of 1 billion Covid vaccine doses with much fanfare. But the enormity of the task ahead appear to have dawned on the Modi government that aims to fully immunise the entire adult population by the end of this year.
Around 740 million people, or roughly 80 per cent, of the eligible population, have received the first dose while 244 million are yet to get any. Around 338 million people, or around 35 per cent of the eligible population, have received the second dose.
Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya had recently said that more than 10.34 crore people were yet to take the second dose although they had overshot the prescribed interval between the two doses.
At the end of Wednesday’s virtual meeting, Modi thanked the chief ministers for their hard work in battling Covid and warned against any laxity.
The Prime Minister told the DMs to revive for the vaccination campaign the dynamism and determination they had on the first day of their service after completing their training at Mussoorie.