Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday reviewed the public health preparedness to COVID-19 and the progress of vaccination campaign with health ministers of states and Union territories. The meeting was held in view of the rising cases of the Omicron variant and the recent decisions to roll-out vaccination for the age group 15-18 years and precautionary dose for the vulnerable categories.
The meeting, called by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, was attended by principal secretaries and additional chief secretaries of states/UTs.
Globally, countries are experiencing 3-4 times the surge in COVID-19 cases in comparison to their earlier peaks, Mandaviya noted at the meeting. “The Omicron variant being highly transmissible, a high surge in case can overwhelm the medical system. He therefore advised the states to leave no stone unturned in ramping up infrastructure to manage a high surge so that India escapes unscathed from this episode of COVID-19,” said a health ministry statement.
Mandaviya said irrespective of the COVID variants, measures for preparedness and protection remain the same. He urged the states to re-invigorate their teams to work at the ground level and strengthen monitoring and containment mechanisms.
The meeting discussed various aspects of COVID management including ramping up of hospital infrastructure, increased testing, stringent restrictive measures for breaking the chain of transmission and stress on COVID appropriate behaviour among the masses.
“We have put up a strong fight against Covid earlier and this learning must be used to re-focus on efforts against the Omicron variant,” Mandaviya said. He lauded the “dedication and patience” shown by state administrations in their fight against the pandemic.
Underscoring the critical importance of vaccination drive, the minister observed, “We must focus on planning with regard to the 15-18 age group vaccination and precautionary doses for eligible beneficiaries”. He also urged the states to ensure that the healthcare workers and frontline workers are fully vaccinated, as they form the vulnerable categories.
The minister also urged those states, whose progress of vaccination is below the national average, to ramp up their vaccination campaign. States were also advised to prepare a weekly plan to catch up and exceed the average national vaccination coverage and review the implementation of this plan on a daily basis at the level of Secretary/ACS .
Mandaviya also pointed out that various measures are being taken by the Centre to ramp up infrastructure development and vaccine production in the country. He requested states/UTs to share their best practices so that the entire country can benefit.
