The emergence of global pandemic affected the Universal Routine Immunization Program as
the major focus shifted to administration of COVID vaccination. Many children dropped out
of the Routine Immunization schedule during the COVID wave. To bridge the gap in the
accessibility of life saving vaccines under routine immunization schedule, we made vaccines
available at the hard-to-reach rural areas of Meghalaya and the urban slums of Pune and
Mumbai.

A recent measles outbreak in the densely packed Indian city of Mumbai caused many
children to lose their lives. According to the experts, a reduction in vaccination rates during
the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the major reasons for the outbreak. The Measles vaccine is
part of the national childhood immunization program with two doses recommended for
children between the ages of 9 months to 5 years. Through the mobile vaccination units
Jivika reached out to the left-out children (mostly residing in slums) and made Measles
vaccine and other routine vaccines accessible to them in their locality.