Health Department has prepared a roadmap for vaccinating at least 3 lakh residents against Covid-19 every day and meet the target given by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, health officials said on Sunday.

The roadmap is aimed at covering maximum possible eligible beneficiaries in the state, including the ones staying in far-flung villages and forest areas by

utilizing all the available resources.

In a letter addressed to the Deputy Commissioners of all the 24 districts in Jharkhand, Additional Chief Secretary (Health), Arun Kumar Singh stated that the target of inoculating 3 lakh residents daily was set in a virtual meeting with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

The districts will have to do “micro-planning” in order to achieve the daily vaccination target, and take initiatives to identify and bring eligible beneficiaries to the nearest vaccination centre, Singh stated in his letter.

Singh asked the districts to seek help of Self Help Groups under Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) and civil society organisations to increase the reach of the immunisation drive. According to Singh’s letter, special Block Level Task Force (BLTF) will be set up in all the blocks for management of the vaccination campaign at the block level.

“Learn from the vaccination campaigns run in the past, and also take help of private healthcare facilities if needed,” the letter stated. 

In order to vaccinate forest dwellers and residents of far-flung villages in the interiors of the state, the districts have been directed to prepare a route chart for mobile vaccination vans, which would travel to the interiors and vaccinate the beneficiaries there, the letter stated. There are about 60 such mobile vaccination vans in the state at present, officials said.

“Set a separate vaccination target for hard-to-reach areas of the state and ensure the availability of mobile vaccination vans for running immunisation campaigns in such areas,” Singh wrote in his letter. He further directed officials at Panchayat level to prepare a list of beneficiaries for special weekend vaccination drives on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

As per government records, Jharkhand has administered the first dose of vaccine to more than 1.42 crore residents, and at least 44 lakh of them have also received the second jab.

However, the state has never vaccinated more than 3 lakh residents on a day since the launch of the immunisation campaign against Covid-19 on January 16. On September 1, Jharkhand vaccinated over 2.05 lakh residents, the highest ever in a day, reveal government records.