PM Modi asked CMs to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination pace in their states, says Sawant

During the meeting, the PM tried to know the positivity rate and the health infrastructure in the state, Sawant said.PM Modi insisted that the pace of vaccination, including that for the children in the age group of 15 to 18, be accelerated, and also asked the chief ministers to appeal to the eligible people to get the booster dose, he added.Sawant said he informed the prime minister that although the positivity rate in Goa is high, the number of people getting hospitalised is small.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked chief ministers to accelerate the pace of vaccination in their respective states and take other precautionary measures in view of the rising cases of COVID-19.

Modi on Thursday interacted with the chief ministers over the COVID-19 situation in the country. Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also attended the meeting. ''During the meeting, the PM tried to know the positivity rate and the health infrastructure in the state,'' Sawant said.

PM Modi insisted that the pace of vaccination, including that for the children in the age group of 15 to 18, be accelerated, and also asked the chief ministers to appeal to the eligible people to get the booster dose, he added.

Sawant said he informed the prime minister that although the positivity rate in Goa is high, the number of people getting hospitalised is small. ''In Goa, less than one per cent people have been hospitalised and there is 92 per cent recovery,'' he said.

As far as possible the economic activity in the state should not be stopped, although people need to follow certain restrictions that have been put up, Sawant said. He said that political parties were asked to desist from holding large public meetings in poll-bound states.