On PM's Birthday, Assam Aims To Vaccinate Over 7 Lakh In Mega Drive

To raise awareness about the vaccination drive, the Assam government is doing door-to-door campaigning, using bulk SMSes, and has also dispatched "guardian" ministers to all the districts, according to officials.

A mega vaccination drive is being undertaken in Assam that aims to inoculate about seven lakh people today to mark the 71st birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Of them about 60,000 will be vaccinated in state capital Guwahati alone. The state has set up 4,000 Covid vaccination centres to reach the milestone.

To raise awareness about the inoculation drive, the government is doing door-to-door campaigning, using bulk SMSes, and has also dispatched "guardian" ministers to all the districts, according to officials.

According to a health official, the government is aiming to make up for the low count of second doses. About 1.7 crore, which is over 75 per cent of Assam's eligible population, have received their first doses while only 39.1 lakh (16 per cent) have received both the doses, until Friday morning.

"We are aiming to bridge that gap. These kinds of mega vaccination drives give a big push, and are confidence-building measures, motivating people to participate," said Lakshmanan S, Assam's Mission Director of the National Health Mission.