Districts asked to use social media to boost vaccination

With 26% of Maharashtra's eligible population yet to get a single shot, districts have been asked to proceed at full throttle in the next 20 days by roping in sports personalities, celebrities, army personnel or any local influencer who can motivate people to take their jabs.

- Sumitra.DebRoy

Mumbai: They have also been asked to target the weekly local bazaars in a big way to build awareness and deploy Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp to tackle any myths and misconceptions ahead of drives.

Dr. Pradeep Vyas, additional chief secretary, dashed a letter to districts on Tuesday asking them to activate the ‘Mission Indradhanush Approach’, an intensified strategy that was adopted nationally in pre-Covid times to cover every left out women and children who failed to get immunized against 12 vaccine preventable diseases. The same strategy will be used now to knock on doors and vaccinate people against Covid, Dr. Vyas said. The state has set a target to vaccinate the remaining eligible population of 2.3 crore people with at least one shot by November 30.