PTI
New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the COVID-19 vaccination drive needs to be taken door-to-door now and stressed the importance of completing the inoculation by taking the second dose.
Cautioning against any laxity after surpassing the milestone of 1 billion vaccine doses, Modi said “a new crisis can come” and quoted a saying to assert that one should not underestimate “diseases and enemies as they should be fought till the very end”.
He called for equal attention to taking the second dose of the COVID vaccine, noting that whenever the cases of infection start decreasing, the feeling of urgency among people decreases.
Modi made the remarks as he interacted with district magistrates of over 40 districts spread across Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, and other states with districts having low vaccination coverage.
Talking about the issue of rumours and misunderstandings about COVID vaccination, he said awareness is the only solution for this and asked the state officials to take help from religious leaders in this regard.
The Prime Minister noted that religious leaders are very enthusiastic about the vaccination campaign.
Recalling his meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican a few days ago, he called for a special emphasis on taking the message of religious leaders on vaccines to the public.
Speaking to the officials, he urged them to change gears from making arrangements earlier for taking people to the vaccination centres and getting them safely vaccinated to now administering vaccines door-to-door.
Modi urged the health workers to reach every house with the passion of ‘har ghar tika, ghar-ghar tika’ (vaccine at every doorstep).
He also urged the officials to work with the spirit of ‘har ghar dastak’ (knocking on every door) to ensure full vaccination of both doses.
“Now we are preparing to take the vaccination campaign to each household. With the mantra of ‘har ghar dastak’, every household lacking the security net of a double dose of vaccine will be approached,” he said.
The Prime Minister cautioned that while reaching out to every house, equal attention needs to be paid to the second dose along with the first dose of the vaccine.
“You will have to contact those people who have not taken the second dose despite the stipulated time on a priority basis…Ignoring this has created problems for many countries in the world,” he said.
He said Diwali is being celebrated after the important milestone of administering 1 billion doses and people should move forward with the resolve that they would celebrate Christmas after achieving new goals.
Immediately after returning from his visit to Italy and Glasgow to attend the G20 and COP 26 meetings, the Prime Minister held the review meeting which included officials of districts with less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of COVID vaccine.