Vax drive needs 'Har Ghar Dastak' approach to achieve target: PM Modi

New Delhi, Nov 3 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the vaccination drive against Covid-19 needs a 'Har Ghar Dastak' approach to achieve its target.

"So far you have been working to take people to vaccination centres, now it is time to reach every house for door-to-door vaccine. You can take help of local religious leaders to spread awareness about Covid vaccines and to fight rumours," PM Modi told District Magistrates of low vaccination coverage districts during a review meeting.

A total of 40 low vaccination coverage districts have been identified across Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tamil Nadu.

The Chief Ministers of these states were also present at the meeting.

The meeting was held via video conferencing and included districts with less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

Launching the new vaccination campaign 'Har Ghar Dastak, Modi said: "We have showcased our capabilities under the 'Sabko Vaccine, Muft Vaccine', now its time to make 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign successful."

The Prime Minister asked the officials to change gear from arrangements made for taking people to the vaccination centre to administering vaccines door to door.

He urged the health workers to reach every house with 'Har Ghar Tika, Ghar Ghar Tika' - vaccine at every doorstep.

"With the mantra of 'Har Ghar Dastak', knock on every door, every household lacking the security net of a double dose of vaccine will be approached," he said.

The Prime Minister thanked the Chief Ministers for participating in the meeting, and said that their attention towards the vaccination numbers will encourage the district officials to achieve the target.

Modi said in this biggest pandemic of the century, the country faced many challenges.

He said "one special thing in the country's fight against corona was that we found new solutions and tried innovative methods."

He urged the administrators to work more on new innovative ways to increase vaccination in their districts. He said that even the better performing districts faced similar challenges, but they were met with determination and innovation.

He asked the officials to develop micro strategies, keeping in mind the experience so far to go for saturation vaccination by addressing the gaps at the local level.

The Prime Minister asked the officials to make different strategies for each village, each town in the district, if need be.

He suggested this can be done by forming a team of 20-25 people depending on the region.

Modi also suggested trying to have a healthy competition in the teams formed.

Exhorting the officials to prepare region-wise timetables for local goals, the Prime Minister said: "You will have to do your best to take your districts nearer the national average."

He added, "One must never underestimate disease and enemies. They have to be fought till the very end. So, I would want that we should not show even the slightest laxity."

The Prime Minister said the officials present in the meeting should pay equal attention to the second dose along with the first one.

The Prime Minister emphasised that under the Free Vaccine for All campaign, India created a record of administering about 2.5 crore vaccine doses in a day.

He asked the officials to learn from the good practices of their colleagues in the better performing districts and emphasised that approaches suitable for the local needs and the environment should be adopted.