Vaccination drive: UP to opt for cluster approach

Lucknow, June 15 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh government will be launching its cluster approach strategy to ensure that maximum persons in the target age group are covered.

To scale up vaccination drive against the pandemic virus in July, public mobilization and vaccine facilitation activity will be intensified in small geographical areas which may be as small as 10-12 villages.

The purpose is to go in phases and saturate the selected area to ensure that no one is missed out.

Developed with the help of partners, including UNICEF, UPTSU, WHO, Rotary, CSOs and NGOs for the state government, the strategy was formalized through an official order issued by additional chief secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad.

A dry run of the strategy will begin on June 17.

This aims to augment and accelerate the existing recommendations made by the Union ministry of health and family welfare besides promising to give the much-needed shot in the arm to that pace of Covid vaccination in the state.

According to experts, if UP wants to vaccinate its entire eligible population of 13.6 crore by the end of the year, then it needs to increase its daily capacity by nine times.

The strategy comes in wake of huge targets set by chief minister Yogi Adityanath under 'Mission June' and 'three-months-10 crore vaccinations from July'.