Covid19 immunisation campaign, “Har Ghar Dastak 2.0” to begin today

A programme dubbed “Har Ghar Dasak Campaign 2.0” was launched on Wednesday with the goal of increasing immunisation in all states and union territories (UTs) of the country while also raising awareness about the beneficiaries, according to officials from the Union Health Ministry.

This year’s campaign will run till July 31. The Union Health Ministry said that the immunisation of all beneficiaries whose second dose is due and who are eligible for a precaution dose will be highlighted through a door-to-door vaccination effort.

Vaccination coverage for children aged 12 to 18 will be provided through school-based efforts as well.

In a video conference on May 20, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan informed all states and UTs about the slow pace of COVID-19 vaccination and urged them to speed up the process by saturating all eligible beneficiaries.

During a video conference, the Union Health Secretary advised States and UTs to plan for a two-month “Har Ghar Dastak” campaign 2.0, focusing on door-to-door campaigns with campaigns for old age homes, schools/colleges, including out-of-school children (for targeted coverage of children aged 12-18 years), prisons, brick kilns, and other locations.

The Centre’s inaugural “Har Ghar Dastak” campaign, which focused on achieving 100% first-dose COVID-19 vaccination and clearing the backlog of second-dose vaccinations, ran through December 31.

The Central government began a nationwide COVID-19 immunisation programme on January 16, 2021, and the new phase of universalization of the COVID-19 vaccine began on June 21, 2021.

The government of India has been helping the states and UTs by supplying them with free COVID vaccinations as part of the nationwide vaccination drive.