After Centre's Letter, UP to Divide All Villages Into Groups to Speed Up Coverage of 2nd Dose of Covid Vaccine

After the Centre’s letter asking some of the laggard states including Uttar Pradesh to speed up the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the Yogi Adityanath-led government has decided to tweak its existing strategy to now focus more on villages. It has decided to divide all villages into three categories.

News18 has accessed a letter written by the Uttar Pradesh government to all the district magistrates on October 23, specifying the new strategy that is being termed as ‘Cluster Model 2.0’ and is to be implemented from November 1. Uttar Pradesh leads in the country with nearly 12.5 crore doses given so far and nearly 65 per cent of the population getting the first dose. However, second dose coverage in the BJP-ruled state is among the worst in the country at below 20 per cent.

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The letter says that to complete the rest of the target of the first dose, it is important to now pay “special attention” to rural areas. First, the government Lekhpals will validate details of all those who got the first dose, “which will be an independent analysis that will provide credible data,” the letter reads. Based on this, villages will be divided into three categories – those with over 95 per cent first dose vaccination, those between 80-95 per cent, and those below 80 per cent coverage.

“Based on this list, the vaccination job will be prioritised with the villages with 95 per cent-plus and 80-95 per cent vaccination levels being targeted first for saturation. Villages saturated with the first dose will be defined as such and Gram Pradhan of the village will be felicitated,” the letter said. A block-level task force will follow a strategy to focus on the low-saturation villages below the 80 per cent first dose coverage.

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Mobilisers like Asha and Anganwadi workers and link workers will meanwhile tour the villages to identify people left out of the Covid-19 vaccination drive so far and encourage them to take the vaccine with the help and motivation from influential persons in the village. In the urban areas, the existing strategy of mega vaccination drives and Flexi-timings will continue, the letter said.

Uttar Pradesh has about 17.5 crore adult population which is eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine.

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