States, UTs roll out Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0

New Delhi, February 24, 2021

Various States and UTs have started the implementation of the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0, a campaign aimed to reach those children and pregnant women who were missed out or left out of the Routine Immunisation Programme.

This is aimed at accelerating the full immunization of children and pregnant women through a mission mode intervention. The first phase is from February 22 for 15 days, an official press release said.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan launched the campaign on February 19 and urged the States and district functionaries to reach each child and attain maximum Full Immunization Coverage. The campaign has exemplified ownership of the immunization program by top most leadership at the state level also, it said.

The campaign in Uttar Pradesh was inaugurated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on February 21. The campaign was kicked off in Rajasthan with its Health Minister Raghu Sharma inaugurating the programme on February 22. In Madhya Pradesh, Dr Prabhu Ram Choudhary, State Health Minister inaugurated the campaign in a function held at Bhopal on February 22.

The campaign is scheduled to have two rounds of immunization lasting 15 days (excluding Routine immunization and holidays). It is being conducted in pre-identified 250 districts/urban areas across 29 States and UTs in the country.

Beneficiaries from migration areas and hard to reach areas will be targeted as they may have missed their vaccine doses during COVID19. As per the guidelines released for IMI 3.0, the districts have been classified to reflect 313 low risks; 152 as medium risk; and 250 as high-risk districts.

Adherence to COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) during the immunization activities has been strongly emphasized. States have been asked to follow the "Staggered Approach" to avoid crowding at the session sites and even plan break-up sessions if a staggered approach is not effective to avoid crowding. The sessions are also planned in such a way that not more than 10 beneficiaries are present at the session site at one given point in time.

During the first round of IMI 3.0, the campaign is targeting children and pregnant women who might have missed their vaccine doses due to the COVID pandemic. As per data reported till 1700 hrs. on 22nd February, nearly 29,000 children and 5,000 pregnant women were vaccinated (data provisional).

IMI 3.0 campaign spearheaded by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), will be implemented in mission-mode with support from key departments, as well as a strong network of partners and civil society organizations, youth groups, and community members. It will be taken as an opportunity to catch up on any immunization gaps that might have emerged due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NNN