To achieve measles rubella (MR) elimination by December 2023, mop-up vaccination drive is scheduled from November 20 to 30. Stating this in a press release, state immunisation officer Dr Imkongtemsu Longchar disclosed that the state had undertaken coverage analysis to target areas with poor MR vaccination coverage, with MR elimination drives being undertaken in April-May and August-September this year.
Seeking strong community support for sustaining the immunisation activities, he requested allied departments, faith based organisations (FBOs), civil society organisations (CSOs), village council chairpersons, women leaders and members of IMA, IAP, IDA, Rotary, Lions Club and the community in ensuring that all children under five years of age complete their MR dose during this mop-up round being held in the government health units.
He maintained that the goal was to achieve and sustain MR elimination with zero transmission of endemic measles and cases, and 95% vaccination coverage for MR vaccination. He said MR vaccines were given to children as a two-dose vaccine at nine months (MR1) and at 16-24 months (MR2).
He explained that when a child took the first dose but failed to take the subsequent dose, this was called left-out or drop-out. Stressing that complete immunisation dose had to be taken to get full benefits of the vaccination, Longchar stated that a child who had missed out on MR1 and MR2 could still be given the vaccine till he or she attained five years of age.
Hence, he pointed out the MR elimination drive was a vaccination drive for children in the age group nine months to five years for MR1 dose and dropped out children for MR2 dose.
He revealed that the MR1 dose as per the state data was 96% and 92% for MR2, though there were inter-district variations with the goal being to ensure that all the districts achieve more than 95% coverage.
The state immunisation officer reiterated that reaching out to the left-outs and drop-outs was a priority in ensuring that no child was left behind for life-saving vaccination and complete protection against measles and rubella.
To bridge this gap, he disclosed that the state had conducted three rounds of intensive vaccination rounds called Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) along with regular routine immunisation (RI) at health units and special immunisation drives at certain districts where cases were detected.
Citing the state monitoring data, he mentioned that most of the households did not ensure complete immunisation doses of their children due to fear of side effects and lack of awareness.
Acknowledging that some children got a slight fever or maybe redness or swelling at the injection site, but he termed this as normal, claiming that the reactions did not last long. However, if fever persisted, he advised caregivers to consult a healthcare worker.
“We, as a community, need to work together in spreading awareness on importance of uptake of preventive services like vaccinations and mobilising caregivers to immunisation sites,” he emphasised.
According to Longchar, advocacy and awareness were key requirements in the community to generate demand for services. He stressed that the community should know the importance of immunising a child at the right age to ensure that he or she received full protection.
He pointed out that the vaccines were available free at all government health facilities, cautioning that every unvaccinated or partially vaccinated child was at risk of life-threatening disease.