Assam on Monday joined the 'Free Vaccination for All' campaign where anyone above the age of 18 years will be eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 free of cost in government-run vaccination centres.
According to an official release by National Health Mission (NHM), the Government of India has provided free vaccines pan-India and so far, Assam received about 30 crore COVID vaccines.
With an aim to vaccinate 3 lakh eligible population per day (free of cost), the state government has made over 2000 COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) operational statewide along with dedicated CVCs for the tea gardens and rural areas, it said.
As of 7pm today, around 3,19,430 eligible beneficiaries have received the COVID-19 vaccine across the state, the release stated.
Out of the 2,184 CVCs, 2,162 are government-run centres and remaining 22 are private centres.
Speaking on achieving the daily target of vaccination, Assam health minister Keshab Mahanta said, ""Assam has vaccinated more than 3 lakh persons today. I would like to congratulate Hon'ble Prime Minister, Shri. Narendra Modi Ji and Hon'ble Chief Minister of Assam, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma for their visionary leadership. My gratitude to Hon'ble Guardian Ministers, all Health officials, Vaccinators,Police, District Administration and others, who made it successful."
"Model Vaccination Centres have been prepared tastefully in order to give the feeling of hope, positive spirit as well as an enjoyable environment to all our participant beneficiaries in this drive. CVCs have been provided with drinking water, toilet facilities and sitting arrangements. Along with that, we have also extensively conducted branding of Model Vaccination Centres, with prior miking activities before the start of the campaign. Before the start of this campaign, we have also engaged in removing vaccine hesitancy as well, through the use of IECs, which has generated a positive public response today. Our ASHA workers have also tremendously engaged in Interpersonal Communication (IPC) activities in order to generate a greater demand for COVID Vaccination amongst our people", said Dr. Lakshmanan S., IAS, Mission Director, NHM Assam.
The release further stated that each government-run vaccination centres are equipped with necessary facilities including provisions for sitting arrangements, drinking water as well as washrooms.
These centres also have 2 Nurses, 2 Personnel for crowd management, 2 Computer Operators, 1 Verifier, along with 1-2 Police Personnel, it said.
Notably, walk-in registration for all eligible population above 18 years of age has also been made available along with online registration for the vaccination process.
The district-wise beneficiary coverage for the COVID-19 vaccination across Assam (till 7:00 PM) are as follows: