Mobile vaccination units are playing the Good Samaritan, administering vaccines among under-served and marginalised communities having limited access to vaccination centres in hard-to-reach areas of rural Northeast.
The move is significant, given the fair degree of vaccine hesitancy or resistance among rural people in the hill districts of the region as well, prompting health departments to tie up with NGOs and agencies to help reach out to such people and fully inoculate them as a precautionary measure against COVID-19
In one such initiative, six specialised mobile vaccination units were flagged off by Meghalaya chief minister, Conrad Sangma from Tura Civil Hospital on Saturday in the presence of West Garo Hills district health officials.
It may be mentioned that the Meghalaya government has partnered with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) for the launch of the mobile vaccination initiative to cater to underserved and marginalised communities who have limited access to vaccination centres.Image: The vaccination van being flagged of
"Moreover, in order to meet the challenges of hard to reach areas, the mobile vaccination units will work in collaboration with GiveIndia, Crypto Relief, USAID, BCG, Vaccine on Wheels which have introduced six mobile vaccination clinics within West Garo Hills and East Khasi Hills districts of Meghalaya," official sources said.
This initiative is hoped to create awareness followed by vaccinating hard to reach tribal and rural populations by taking doctor-based mobile vaccination clinics near the communities.
In one such initiative, six specialised mobile vaccination units were flagged off by Meghalaya chief minister, Conrad Sangma from Tura Civil Hospital on Saturday in the presence of West Garo Hills district health officials
"Further, these units will be accompanied by doctors and nurses to counsel communities on the benefits of vaccination, address potential concerns, and administer vaccines at their doorstep and as vaccine eligibility evolves, the units will visit areas close to schools and colleges, while also delivering precautionary doses for frontline health workers and patients above the age of 60 with co-morbidities," they said.
Similar outreach vaccination drives are underway, particularly in the hill districts of Assam, where some people are yet to be vaccinated with the first dose, a health official informs Fit-Northeast.
"We are trying to overcome the hurdle of vaccine hesitancy in some districts, especially in Karbi Anglong, West Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao, by taking the assistance of an NGO, Care India, to help accelerate the vaccination process in pockets inhabited by 'vaccine-resistant' population," state nodal officer, COVID-19 vaccination, Munindra Nath Ngatey, said.
Around 80,000 people in Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong alone, till last month, had not been administered the first dose yet, owing to resistance among a section of people.Image: A beneficiary getting the Covid-19 vaccination
"However, they are now starting to take the jabs even as the turnover is less. Such hesitancy has slowed down the vaccination process somewhat," Ngatey said.
It may also be informed that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a monumental impact in India and across the globe with people losing lives, livelihoods and much more for which vaccination is one of the most important ways to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and save millions of lives.
Further, India is undertaking one of the world's largest vaccination campaigns and has made tremendous progress, administering more than 170 crore doses till date, serving as a global example of delivering COVID-19 vaccines at a massive scale.
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