'Go door-to-door': PM Modi holds meet on COVID-19 vaccination drive
What's the story
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a meeting with officials from districts reporting low COVID-19 vaccination coverage.
He has urged healthcare workers to conduct door-to-door vaccinations and dispel misinformation with the help of local religious leaders and youth organizations.
The PM also emphasized the importance of ensuring full vaccination.
Here are more details on this.
Context
Why does it matter?
The meeting comes amid reports that several states are lagging behind the national average of COVID-19 vaccination.
In fact, at least 48 districts have been identified where first-dose coverage is still less than 50%.
Even though India has administered more than 100 crore vaccine doses, it aims to fully vaccinate its adult population (nearly 94 crore) by the end of this year.
Statement
'Make different strategy for villages, towns'
"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," PM Modi said.
"If you want, make a different strategy for each village and each town in your districts. You can also do this by forming a team of 20-25 people depending on the region."
Quote
PM Modi warns against laxity
"But if we become lax after 1 billion (vaccine doses), a new crisis can come," PM Modi said, adding that "diseases and enemies should be fought against till the very end." Notably, experts have repeatedly warned of a potential third wave of COVID-19.
Details
PM underlines importance of second dose
PM Modi said special attention should be paid to the timely administration of the second dose.
"Because whenever the cases of infection start decreasing, sometimes the feeling of urgency decreases. People start feeling that, what is the hurry, we will put it," he stated.
Notably, crores of people across several states have not shown up for their second dose on time.
Meeting
Half of Indian population partially vaccinated
At Wednesday's meet, Chief Ministers of states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal were present.
Further, magistrates of over 40 districts also attended it.
India has administered over 107 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses - the most after China. Over 53% of the Indian population have received at least one dose while 24% are fully vaccinated.