New Delhi: The national full immunization coverage for 2023-24 was 93.50 percent, with Lakshadweep and Jammu and Kashmir leading the list, according to the Source Health Management Information System.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Union Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav said Lakshadweep (108.79 percent) and Jammu and Kashmir (108.66 percent) were followed by Telangana (106.13 percent), Delhi (105.03 percent), Andhra Pradesh (101.26 percent), Mizoram (101.10 percent) and Maharashtra (101.04 percent).
Immunization coverage was above 95 percent in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya, Karnataka, Jharkhand Gujarat, Chandigarh, and Chhattisgarh during this period.
The coverage was the lowest in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu at 48.03 percent. According to health ministry sources, as quoted by news agency PTI, some states and Union territories had figures higher than 100 percent because of increased coverage by catch-up campaigns such as Intensified Mission Indradhanush and immunization of migrant populations.
Under the universal immunization program, all eligible children up to the age of two are administered vaccination doses, according to the immunization schedule. Jadhav said in his reply that Mission Indradhanush and Intensified Mission Indradhanush were special catch-up campaigns conducted at regular intervals to ensure vaccination of left-out and dropped-out children and pregnant women in areas of low immunization coverage.
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The government encourages states and Union territories to have model immunization centers. Immunization camps are also conducted in the states, based on requirements. Model immunization centers are already operational in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and in the Union territories of Chandigarh and Ladakh, Jadhav stated.
