Booster dose for health workers, COVID-19 vaccines for children: Key highlights from PM Modi’s address
As the Omicron variant has spread to many states in the past few weeks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to address the nation on the night of December 25, urging citizens to keep calm and maintain all the proper COVID-19 restrictions in these uncertain times.
During his address, PM Modi made many significant announcements about how the country will tackle the current COVID-19 surge. The major announcements included the administration of booster doses for health workers and the vaccination drive for children.
PM Modi said that precaution doses will be made available for healthcare workers and those above the age of 60 with comorbidities. The prime minister also announced that the COVID-19 vaccination drive for children between the ages 15 and 18 will kick off from January 2022.
Key highlights from PM Modi’s speech
Urging people to follow the basic COVID-19 precautions during this time, PM Modi said, “I would urge all of you not to panic, be careful, and alert. Remember to mask up and keep washing hands.”
PM Modi further said that due to the collective effort of the people, India has crossed the milestone of administering 141 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses till now. The vaccination drive in India started on January 16, 2021.
In his address, PM Modi said, “Today, more than 61 percent of India’s adult population has received both doses of the vaccine. Similarly, about 90 percent of the adult population has received a single dose of the vaccine.”
Answering one of the most asked questions amid rising Omicron threats, PM Modi announced that the vaccination drive for children between the ages of 15 and 18 will start across the nation on January 3, 2022.
Further, the prime minister also announced that a “precaution dose” of the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered to frontline and healthcare workers from January 10, 2022. The precaution dose will also be available for citizens above 60 years of age and with comorbidities on the advice of their doctor.
PM Modi said, “Our innovative spirit is also growing. The country today has 18 lakh isolation beds, 5 lakh oxygen-supported beds, 1,40,000 ICU beds. If ICU and non-ICU beds are taken together, there are about 90,000 beds for children. Today the country has over 3,000 PSA oxygen plants functioning and four lakh oxygen cylinders have been provided across the country.”
He further added that the administration of the newly-developed nasal vaccine and the world’s first DNA vaccine against COVID-19 will start soon in India.