BHUBANESWAR: The Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI 5.0) drive will be launched in the state from September 11. The drive aims at vaccinating all children under the age of five years and pregnant women, who have missed their vaccine doses.
The IMI 5.0 drive will be carried out in three rounds between September and November with each round spanning six days. The first round will be held from September 11-16, while the second and third rounds will be held from October 9-14 and November 6-11 respectively. The drive intends to vaccinate 1,04,261 unvaccinated or partly vaccinated children and 19,896 pregnant women in 314 blocks of 30 districts.
Highlighting the objective of the campaign, director of family welfare Dr Bijaya Panigrahy said Odisha is one of the states with the highest immunisation coverage and is committed to immunise all under-five children who may have been left out or dropped out of vaccination programs. “When it comes to children, mothers can not be ignored. So all pregnant women who have missed their vaccination would also be covered during the campaign,” he said.
According to the NFHS-V, Odisha has the highest immunisation coverage in the country. The full immunisation coverage in Odisha has increased from 36.1 per cent in 1992-93 to 90.5 per cent in 2019-21. This has significantly reduced vaccine-preventable diseases and under-five mortality in the state.
Since 2015, 10 Mission Indradhanush drives have been successfully conducted in the identified districts of the state. At the recently held state steering committee chaired by chief secretary PK Jena, all line departments have been asked to improve inter-departmental convergence for the IMI 5.0 drive. Meanwhile, Unicef has intensified the awareness drive to educate households, address factors influencing vaccine resistance and mobilise families for the vaccination.