COVID-19 vaccines in boats: Flood-hit Bihar comes up with new initiative to inoculate locals

Ministry of health shared a picture of a COVID-19 vaccination centre on their official Twitter handle. Although small, this COVID-19 vaccination centre is unique in a lot of ways.

(Credits: Twitter/@MinistryofHealth)

New Delhi: As several districts of Bihar reel under floods caused by heavy rains, the Ministry of health took to their official Twitter handle to post a picture of a COVID-19 vaccination centre. Although small, this COVID-19 vaccination centre is unique in a lot of ways. 

The image captured one of the ‘boats’ which the state officials dedicated to ensuring COVID-19 vaccination in a flood-affected area of Muzaffarpur. In the image, a banner can be seen which reads “vaccines in boats" in Hindi in bold letters.

#LargestVaccineDrive

Dedicated boats- "टीका वाली नाव"- in Muzaffarpur, Bihar are ensuring #COVID19 vaccination in flooded areas of the district. pic.twitter.com/X9UGVARuGs

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) July 9, 2021

Earlier, on July 7, 2021, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar conducted an aerial survey of flood-affected areas of West Champaran and East Champaran. The state is witnessing a flood situation in several districts due to heavy downpour. The Chief Minister also held meeting with officials of flood-affected districts and gave instructions to speed up relief and rescue measures.

Currently, some of the flood-affected areas in Bihar are Hayaghat, Bahadurpur, Madhwapur, Khajauli, Phoolparas, Hanuman Nagar, Ghanshyampur areas of Darbhanga district and Ghoghara areas of Madhubani district and Bithan.

Meanwhile, the country’s cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 36,89,91,222, as per the provisional report till 7 am on Friday. Over 40,23,173 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours, revealed the Ministry of Health yesterday. On day-174 of the vaccination drive on July 8, out of the total 40,23,173 vaccine doses that were given, 27,01,200 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 13,21,973 beneficiaries received a second dose of vaccine.