Delhi Govt. commences Measles-Rubella Vaccination
BS RAWAT
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has started a five-week vaccination drive to protect children against measles and rubella.
Starting from Wednesday. January 16, 2019, the government will vaccinate over 55 lakh children in Delhi in the coming weeks. The vaccine will be provided free of cost to preschool children, school children (government and private) and out-of-school children in 11 districts of the national capital.
Launching the campaign, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said, “The campaign will be carried out in a phased manner — students from around 5,400 big schools in the city will receive the vaccines between January 16 and February 2, after which there will be a gap because the national pulse polio drive is scheduled.”
From next month for another two weeks, 4,300 other small and informal schools will be targeted along with an outreach with the help of ASHAs and ANMs. After that, there will be a mop up for another week to vaccinate anyone who has been left out, he added.
Health Secretary Sanjeev Khirwar told DTMT, “In order to make the campaign successful the operational guidelines have been disseminated to all functionaries detailing the task and responsibilities at all levels through a series of workshops at state and district levels.”
He said, “The school going children will be reached with support from education department through network of schools under jurisdiction of various stake holders and vaccination services will be provided by health facilities of health agencies.”
“The children who receive the vaccines will be given a certificate and marked by ink on their nails, to ensure that they are not given the shots again,” he added.