Childhood Vaccinations Pushed Back by Years in India During 2020 : COVID-19
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, 23 million children were deprived of basic vaccines through routine immunization services in 2020. This figure is more than 3.7 million compared to the year 2019.
India has also seen a significant decline in vaccination.
Partners such as UNICEF, WHO, GAVI and the Vaccine Alliance are supporting efforts to strengthen the immune system by:
- Resumption of services and vaccination campaigns to enable smooth implementation of routine immunization programmes.
- Helping to communicate effectively with health workers and caregivers (guardians) of community leadership to understand the importance of vaccination.
- Ensuring that COVID-19 vaccine distribution is independently planned and funded and is not at the expense of childhood immunization services.
Related headlines:
The Minister of Tribal Affairs has launched the campaign ‘Surakshit Van, Dhan and Udyam with Kovid Tika’ through virtual medium. Its objective is to accelerate the pace of COVID vaccination among the tribal community.
The main focus of this campaign will be on three points:
- Life: Every life and sustenance is valuable, so vaccination is the key to life, and it’s free.
- Livelihood: If you have been vaccinated then you can continue with your Van Dhan Vikas Kendra and livelihood activities without the fear of getting infected.
- Awareness: Simplification of the process of vaccination registration.
Efforts made for vaccination in India:
- Universal Immunization Program (1985) – Mission Indradhanush and Intensive Mission Indradhanush.
- Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) – To digitize the entire vaccine stock management.
Source – The Hindu
