Vaccination Coverage In Tribal Districts Better Than National Average, Says Health Ministry

COVID-19 vaccination coverage per million population in tribal districts is higher than the national average, with 128 out of 176 tribal districts performing better than the rest of India, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The vaccination per million population in tribal districts is 1,73,875, which is higher than the national average at 1,68,951. According to the data available on Co-WIN, as of June 3, the gender ratio for people vaccinated is also better in tribal districts.

As compared to the national average, there are more walk-in vaccinations in tribal districts. The Walk-in: Online vaccination ratio nationally is 81:19 and 88:12 for tribal districts.

Bridging Rural-Urban Divide

The statistics disprove conceptions about the rural-urban divide as the Co-WIN system offers a flexible and inclusive framework for facilitating vaccination recording in rural areas, and especially in remote parts of the country, the ministry mentions.

Out of the total 69,995 vaccination centres so far classified by states on Co-WIN as rural or urban, 49,883 vaccination centres or 71 per cent are located in rural areas, reported The Hindu.

From May 1 till June 12, out of the total 1,03,585 COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) providing vaccination services, 26,114 are operated at the Sub-Health Centres, 26,287 at the Primary Health Centres and 9,441 at the Community Health Centres, amounting to 59.7 per cent of the total vaccination centres. All of these CVCs at three levels are located in rural areas where people can directly walk-in for registration and vaccination.

Easier Registration Process

The ministry has cleared that pre-registration for vaccination through online registration and prior booking of appointment is not mandatory to avail of COVID-19 vaccination services. It said anyone aged 18 and above can directly go to the nearest vaccination centre where the vaccinator performs the on-site registration and provides vaccination in the same visit.

Registration is also facilitated through the Common Service Centres (CSCs) on CoWIN.

Health workers or ASHA workers can mobilise beneficiaries in rural areas and those residing in urban slums, for on-site registration and vaccination directly at the nearest vaccination centres. The facility for assisted registrations through the 1075 helpline has also been operationalised, as per the ministry Press statement on June 15 reported by India Today.

"Out of the 28.36 crore beneficiaries registered on CoWIN till June 13, 16.45 crore (58 per cent) beneficiaries have been registered in the on-site mode," said the statement.

Also read: Is Vaccine Hesitancy Plaguing Rural India? Less Than 0.5 % Have Registered