PM Modi holds review meeting with districts having low vaccination coverage

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday had an interaction with District Magistrates of districts of Northeastern states including Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Meghalaya along with other states across the country with low vaccination coverage.

The District Magistrates gave an account of the issues and challenges being faced in their districts, which has resulted in low vaccination coverage.

Issues like rumours resulting in vaccine hesitancy, difficult terrain, challenges created due to prevailing weather conditions in recent months were also highlighted.

They also presented an account of the steps that have been taken by them till now to overcome these challenges. The DMs also shared good practices adopted by them which has led to increase in coverage.

During the interaction, the Prime Minister discussed the issue of vaccine hesitancy and the local factors behind it in detail. He discussed a wide array of ideas that can be implemented for ensuring 100% vaccination coverage in these districts.

He spoke about maximizing community engagement through religious and community leaders. He exhorted all officials to ensure that the country widens its vaccination coverage by the end of the year and enters the new year with renewed self belief and confidence.

The Union Health Secretary gave an overview of the vaccination coverage in the country. He gave an account of balance vaccine dose availability in the States, and also talked about special vaccination campaigns being run in the States to further improve vaccination coverage.

The Prime Minister touched upon the issue of rumours and misunderstanding about vaccination. He suggested awareness is the only solution for this and asked the state officials to take help from the religious leaders. The Prime Minister noted that religious leaders are very enthusiastic about the vaccination campaign. Modi recalled his meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, a few days ago. He urged for a special emphasis on taking the message of religious leaders on vaccines to the public.

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