PM's proposed meeting with DMs hailed by experts

Hailing PM Modi's proposed meeting with district magistrates over low COVID-19 vaccination coverage, Dr Suneela Garg said that DM is the right person who can give the exact scenario and reasons behind slow progress of vaccination.

New Delhi:Experts from India's health domain on Monday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed meeting with district magistrates over low COVID-19 vaccination coverage asserting the fact that DMs are the right people who can speak the reality.

The statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said that Modi will interact with district magistrates of over 40 districts spread across Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya among other States. The meeting will include districts with less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

"This meeting is very important at this juncture to have a look at the national immunization coverage in the country. If we want to provide 180 crore dose, we have to speed up the process," Dr Suneela Garg, national president of Organised Medicine Academic Guild (OMAG) told ETV Bharat.

Dr Garg said that District Magistrate is the right person who can give the exact scenario and reasons behind slow progress of vaccination. "A DM can clearly point out whether there is any laxity on the administrative side or there is any hesitancy," said Dr Garg.

Read:Modi to hold review meet on low Covid vaccine coverage in over 40 districts

She suggested that State government should monitor the situation very carefully. "There could be many reasons for slow progress of vaccination in certain districts. There could be fear of adverse reaction, hesitancy and big gap between first and second dose," said Dr Garg who is also the president of Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM).

Government statistics said that districts like Kra Daadi (18.3 per cent), Kurung Kumey (27.4 per cent), Upper Subansiri (33.1 per cent), Kamle (36.4 per cent), Lower Subansiri (41.3 per cent) and East Kameng (42.5 per cent) in Aruanachal Pradesh have registered less than 50 per cent vaccination of the first dose.

One district in Assam- South Salmara Mankachar- has registered 44.8 per cent.

Several districts in States like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra have registered less than 50 per cent vaccination.

Likewise, several districts in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur and Meghalaya have registered less than 33 per cent of second dose coverage of Covid 19 vaccination.