‘Covid not over yet, increase vaccinations for schoolkids’: Mandaviya to states

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya interacted with health ministers of states and Union territories and urged them to focus on increasing Covid-19 vaccination coverage for schoolchildren, precaution dose for the elderly and strengthening genome sequencing, the health ministry said.

“Covid-19 is not over yet. With rising Covid-19 cases in some states, it is important to be alert and not to forget Covid-appropriate behaviour,” Mandaviya told the states at the review meeting.

Highlighting increased case positivity in some districts and states and reduced Covid-19 testing, Mandaviya said increased and timely testing will enable early identification of cases and help to curb the spread of the infection among the community.

“He urged states/UTs to continue and strengthen the surveillance and focus on genome sequencing for identifying new mutants/variants in the country. He stated that the five-fold strategy of test, track, treat, vaccination and adherence to Covid Appropriate Behavior (CAB) needs to be continued and monitored by States/UTs,” the ministry said in a statement.

At the meeting, states were also urged to focus on implementing the operational guidelines for the revised surveillance Strategy for Covid-19 which focuses on surveillance of incoming international travellers and surveillance through health facilities, labs, communities, etc.

“Stressing the importance of vaccination among the vulnerable age groups, he urged the state health ministers to personally review the status and progress of the special month-long drive Har Ghar Dastak 2.0 campaign which has started since 1st June,” it added.

Mandaviya said, “Let us accelerate our efforts to identify all beneficiaries in the 12-17 age group for the 1st and 2nd doses, so they can attend schools with the protection of the vaccine.”

The meeting comes on a day when India reported 8,084 new Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths, according to data released by the Union health ministry. As of Monday, active cases of Covid-19 stood at 47,995. The death tally rose to 5,24,771 and the number of people discharged from hospitals stood at 4,26,57,335, the health ministry’s data also showed.

With 1,803 new Covid-19 cases recorded on Sunday, the count of active patients rose to over 16,000 in Mumbai. The state, meanwhile, recorded 2,946 cases and two deaths. With the fresh figures, the state’s Covid-19 tally rose to 79,10,577 and the toll to 1,47,870 on Sunday.