CII-Serum Institute to take vaccination to rural areas

ReutersOur Bureau Updated - July 30, 2021 at 07:29 PM.

Identifies requirement of over seven million dose vaccines

FILE PHOTO: Healthcare worker Jankhana Prajapati gives a dose of the domestically manufactured COVISHIELD vaccine to villager Amiyaben Dabhi during a door-to-door vaccination drive in Banaskantha district in the western state of Gujarat, India, July 23, 2021. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has partnered with Serum Institute of India (SII) to take vaccination to towns and rural areas.

“India’s post-pandemic growth critically rests on how soon the eligible population is vaccinated and economic activities can return to normal,” said CII President TV Narendran, adding that they looked to connect the community, hospitals and corporates to fast-track the vaccination process.

Under its flagship program “Project Vaccine Nation”, CII has collated vaccine requirements of its members, said Naresh Trehan, Chairman, CII National Healthcare Council and Chairman and Managing Director of Medanta – The Medicity. The Serum Institute collaboration would take it one step further to the grassroots, he added.

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As part of the pan-India vaccine demand aggregation exercise, CII undertook a survey with response from over 3,000 companies in 196 cities. This identified a requirement of over seven million single dose vaccines, CII said. As of 23 July, a total of 34,75,301 (3.4 million) single doses have been administered through 430 camps held across the country by CII and the CII Foundation.

Now they are mapping the vaccination need requirement State-wise and setting up vaccination camps along with its members focusing on reaching Tier 2/3 cities and rural areas, it added.

The vaccination programme will be supported by a communication campaign, the note said, adding that the initial communication campaign on the importance of masking with the tag line “aap insaan hai, bhagwan nahi” had aired on television. CII is now launching another campaign on vaccine hesitancy, the note said.

Published on July 30, 2021 10:11