Those eligible for second dose of COVID vaccine should be given priority: Govt

The Union government on Tuesday insisted that those eligible for the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine should be given priority and that vaccination wastage should be minimised.

Expressing concern over the misinformation on the subject of vaccination, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba mentioned that all vaccines that are procured either by the central government or the state governments, are actually meant for the public in the states and there is no consumption at the central-level.

Gauba, who chaired the 33rd meeting with states and union territories to review the COVID situation in the country, informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had constituted a group of experts for development and production of vaccines in the country in April, 2020, and another group of experts later in August, 2020, for distribution of vaccines, the Union health ministry said in a statement.

The priority groups were identified on the advice of experts and vaccination for these priority groups were supplied to states by the government of India free of cost.

''Thereafter, as per demand, other vulnerable groups were also included in the priority list. He insisted that those eligible for the second dose of vaccination should be given priority and that vaccination wastage should be minimized,'' the statement stated. Gauba briefed the states on the action taken by the government of India in controlling the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic since last year and shared with them the work done by the task force and expert groups constituted by the government of India on crucial matters like improvement and augmentation of health infrastructure, research and production of vaccines, welfare of poor people, vaccination and supply of oxygen. He also appreciated the real-time work done by states and UTs to augment health infrastructure and informed them about the various advisories issued by Ministry of Health and other ministries of government of India on home isolation, care of mild COVID cases. Gauba informed that the prime minister's active engagement with domestic industries for production and supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) since September, 2020, has helped in resolving various logistics issues of transport of LMO on land, air and water. The cabinet secretary emphasised the need of keeping the public informed about the action taken by the central and state governments and assured that no stone would be left unturned to provide timely oxygen supply and other medical resources to hospitals, the statement said.

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan requested states and union territories to prioritise in terms of testing, intensive action and local containment of the pandemic, strengthening of hospital infrastructure, augmentation of human resources, rational utilisation of oxygen. He informed about the plan to install 1,213 pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants within the next three months, the statement.

Reiterating the judicious use of vaccines, he stressed upon the need for an awareness campaign on the importance of completion of both doses of vaccination, for better immunity.

States should constitute dedicated teams to interact with vaccine producers on a daily basis. Amit Khare Secretary, Information and Broadcasting, emphasised the importance of continuation of COVID-appropriate behaviour, and generating awareness about the various guidelines and advisories issued by the government of India.

He requested the states to spread further awareness in the peri-urban, rural areas and tribal areas by involving the field-level functionaries like anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), and others.

Khare also requested them to involve community leaders and local influencers to take across the appropriate guidelines before the people, so that there is no panic regarding the initial symptoms of COVID and the care required thereafter, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)