Step forward:The campaign is being conducted in 250pre-identified districts/urban areas in 29 States/UTs.AFPAFP  

The States and Union Territories (UTs) have rolled out the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) 3.0 scheme to cover children and pregnant women who missed routine immunisation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Health Ministry said in a release issued on Tuesday. More than 29,000 children and 5,000 pregnant women were covered on the first day, it added.

“Various States and UTs have started implementation of the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 3.0, a campaign aimed to reach those children and pregnant women who have been missed out or been left out of the Routine Immunisation Programme. This is aimed to accelerate the full immunisation of children and pregnant women through a mission mode intervention. The first phase has been rolled out from February 22 for 15 days,” it said.

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

Remote areas

Beneficiaries from migration areas and remote areas would be targeted as they may have missed their vaccine doses during the pandemic. As per the guidelines released for IMI 3.0, the districts have been classified to reflect 313 low risk, 152 medium risk and 250 high risk districts.

The Ministry said adherence to COVID-appropriate behaviour (CAB) during immunisation activities has been strongly emphasised.

The States have been asked to follow a “staggered approach” to avoid crowding at the session sites and even plan break-up sessions if a staggered approach is not effective.

The sessions have also been planned in such a way that not more than 10 beneficiaries are present at the session site at one given point in time.

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