Chandigarh, October 20: The Punjab Government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, will commence a mass Immunization drive for livestock as a preventive measure against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) starting from October 21. “Officials have formed a total of 816 teams to ensure the smooth and efficient execution of the vaccination drive.”

   Punjab Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian announced the production of 6,547,800 doses of the FMD vaccine for the mass immunization drive.”

Directed authorities to complete the vaccination

“Gurmeet Singh Khudian directed the department authorities to complete the vaccination drive by the end of November. Furthermore, he emphasized that they will administer the vaccine free of cost to the entire livestock population of the state.” He also asked officials to maintain the cold chain effectively and educate livestock farmers about the benefits of the immunisation drive.

Immunisation : Department distributed the vaccine to all districts

          Meanwhile, Principal Secretary Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries, Rahul Bhandari, informed that the Animal Husbandry department has distributed the vaccine to all districts. “The state appointed the Joint Director of NRDDL, Jalandhar, as the nodal officer to ensure the efficient execution of the immunization drive.

Immunization : Department has set up a control room

          He further mentioned that the Punjab Animal Husbandry department has set up a control room at the state level, along with district-level control rooms at the offices of the Deputy Directors of the Animal Husbandry department. The department has also issued a helpline number 0172-5086064 to assist livestock farmers, Bhandari added.