Vaccination most potent way to deal with pandemic: PM Modi

New Delhi, Jan 13:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that irrespective of the variant, proven way to tackle the pandemic remains vaccination, while reviewing the public health preparedness to Covid-19 and National Vaccination Progress.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting with Chief Ministers and Lt Governors, Administrators of States and UTs to review the preparedness to Covid-19. Union Ministers Amit Shah, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar were among those who were present in the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, PM Modi said that India's battle with the biggest pandemic of 100 years has now entered its third year. "Hard work is our only path and victory is our only option. We, 130 crore people of India, will surely emerge victorious against Corona with our efforts", he said.

Talking about the new Covid variant Omicron, PM said that this variant is infecting the general public many times faster than the earlier variants. "We have to be alert, be careful, but we also have to take care that there is no panic situation. We have to see that in this festive season, the alertness of the people and the administration is not lowered anywhere. The way the central and state governments had adopted a pre-emptive, proactive and collective approach, the same is the mantra of victory this time as well. The more we can limit the corona infection, the less the problem will be, he added.

PM Modi said that made in India vaccines are proving their superiority all over the world. It is a matter of pride for every Indian that today India has given the first dose to about 92 per cent of the adult population. The coverage of the second dose has also reached around 70 per cent in the country, he informed.

We have to intensify the Har Ghar Dastak campaign for 100 per cent vaccination, he said, highlighting that India has also vaccinated about 30 million of its adolescents. The sooner the precaution dose is given to the frontline workers and senior citizens, the more the capacity of our healthcare system will increase, he said.

The Prime Minister stressed that while making any strategy, it is very important to keep in mind that there should be minimum damage to the livelihood of the common people, economic activities, and momentum of the economy should be maintained. So it would be better to focus more on local containment. He stressed that we should be in the position to provide maximum treatment in home isolation situations and for that home isolation guidelines should keep on improving and they should be strictly followed.

Regarding health infrastructure, the Prime Minister lauded the states for using the Rs 23,000 crore package that was given earlier to revamp the health infrastructure. Under this more than 800 paediatric units all over the country, 1.5 lakh new ICU and HDU beds, more than 5,000 special ambulances, more than 950 liquid medical oxygen storage tank capacity have been added. The Prime Minister stressed the need to keep on expanding the infrastructure. "In order to defeat Corona we need to keep our readiness ahead of every variant. Along with tackling Omicron, we need to start preparing for any future variant from now itself", the Prime Minister said.

The Chief Ministers thanked the Prime Minister for his leadership during the successive waves of Covid-19. They especially thanked the Prime Minister for his support & guidance and for funds provided by the Central Government which has been of immense help in boosting health infrastructure in the states.

Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai talked about the spread of cases in Bengaluru and measures taken to contain it, while West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee highlighted the possibility of increase in cases due to coming festivities and the administration's preparedness to tackle it. Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin said the state stands together with the Centre in the fight against this wave. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren talked about misconceptions in some rural and tribal areas which have caused some difficulties in the vaccination programme. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath talked about steps being taken to ensure that no one is left out of the vaccination drive.

Punjab CM Charanjeet Singh Channi thanked the Prime Minister for fund and infrastructure support, especially in meeting oxygen requirements. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that steps like precaution dose have proved to be an immense confidence booster. Manipur CM N. Biren Singh said that the state is taking steps to increase the vaccination coverage.