Health Min suggests stickers be given to notify fully jabbed status of families

New Delhi/London: Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday suggested that stickers for houses to notify completion of both doses of COVID-19 vaccines should be given to fully vaccinated families to encourage uptake of vaccine among the population.

The minister made the suggestion during a meeting on Tuesday with non-government organisations, civil society outfits and development partners to take the 'Har Ghar Dastak' Covid vaccination campaign across the length and breadth of the country, according to a Union Health ministry statement.

Mandaviya noted that 'Jan-Bhagidari' (people's participation) is essential for such a mammoth exercise like India's vaccination programme.

"India stood tall in COVID-19 crisis because of the initiative of non-government organisations and civil society organisations which supplemented the efforts of the government to ensure that nobody went to sleep on an empty stomach during the Covid lockdown," he stated. The minister also noted their contribution in ensuring that 80 per cent of the population and 40 per cent of the population received their first and second dose of the vaccine respectively, according to the statement.

"Involvement of all stakeholders working according to their expertise and capacity to achieve a collective goal is the very essence of democracy," Mandaviya said as he interacted with representatives of various stakeholders helping the government in furthering the reach and coverage of vaccination. 

Giving the example of developed countries whose health system and healthcare delivery have been exhausted with multiple waves of COVID-19, the Union Health minister stressed for the completion of the COVID-19 vaccination drive with 100 per cent administration of both the doses as an immediate necessity to end the pandemic in India, the statement stated.

"We have to all ensure that everybody is vaccinated," he stated.

The partners at the meeting were exhorted to work towards generating community awareness and transforming the vaccination exercise into a 'Jan Andolan' (public movement).

The importance of second dose in protecting from serious illness and hospitalisation was flagged as an essential component of communication, the ministry said in the statement.

Mandaviya suggested the partners to identify an area according to their capacity and saturate vaccination among all the inhabitants there.

He also suggested that stickers notifying completion of both doses of vaccines be given to families to encourage uptake of vaccine among the population, the statement said.

The partners were asked to disseminate information on the campaign through NGO/CSO social media channels, use of audio-visual content for posting and amplifying positive messages, invigorating advocacy with leading medical professionals at national, state or district level for positive messaging around COVID-19 vaccination, it said.

India logged 8,865 new infections, the lowest in 287 days, taking the country's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,44,56,401, while the active cases settled at 1,30,793, the lowest in 525 days, according to the Union Health ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll climbed to 4,63,852 with 197 fresh fatalities, including 127 from Kerala and 19 from Maharashtra, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The cumulative Covid vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 113.61 crore on Wednesday, the ministry said. A total of 61,21,626 vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm.

Meanwhile, drugmaker Pfizer Inc. has signed a deal with a UN-backed group to allow other manufacturers to make its experimental VOID-19 pill, a move that could make the treatment available to more than half of the world's population.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Pfizer said it would grant a license for the antiviral pill to the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool, which would let generic drug companies produce the pill for use in 95 countries, making up about 53 percent of the world's population.

The deal excludes some large countries that have suffered devastating Coronavirus outbreaks.

For example, while a Brazilian drug company could get a license to make the pill for export to other countries, the medicine could not be made generically for use in Brazil.

Still, health officials said the fact that the deal was struck even before Pfizer's pill has been authorized anywhere, could help to end the pandemic quicker.

"It's quite significant that we will be able to provide access to a drug that appears to be effective and has just been developed, to more than 4 billion people," Esteban Burrone, head of policy at the Medicines Patent Pool, said.

He estimated that other drugmakers would be able to start producing the pill within months, but acknowledged the agreement wouldn't please everyone.

"We try to strike a very delicate balance between the interests of the (company), the sustainability required by generic producers and most importantly, the public health needs in lower and middle-income countries," Burrone said.

Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will not receive royalties on sales in low-income countries and will waive royalties on sales in all countries covered by the agreement while COVID-19 remains a public health emergency.