92 pc MR vaccination coverage achieved in state, says official

SHILLONG: Meghalaya has achieved 92 percent Measles-Rubella vaccination coverage, said a senior government official on Thursday.
Health secretary Pravin Bakshi, while speaking at a state-level workshop to review the vaccination campaign and pulse polio immunisation programme, said out of 11,56,036 children, 10,67,655 were vaccinated, which is 92 per cent.
Lauding the efforts of the district maternal and child health officers and the team, Bakshi said every district had its own set of challenges and though the state has achieved 92 percent, the target to achieve 95 percent would be intensified in the days to come.
“Areas where more number of children is to be covered will be identified with a special focus on refusal areas and check the size of the refusal pockets. In districts where coverage percentage is low, dedicated cells will be created to make calls to private hospitals, schools and community about the importance of the vaccination,” he added.
However, Bakshi, who is the state director of National Health Mission, admitted that the vaccination coverage is still low in East Khasi Hills because it is a big district and more than 20 percent of the children who have to be vaccinated are here.
“So now we will focus on East Khasi Hills district,” he said.