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“People and administration both seem to have become casual and this has increased our troubles,” the Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday told chief ministers of states, amid a growing clamour of vaccine shortages, that the rising cases of COVID19 in the country, crossing peak levels of the first wave, required a firm strategy of “Test, Track and Treat” almost ruling out any kind of large scale lockdown. Intensive testing, testing 100% in well defined micro containment zones, tracing at least 30 contacts of every positive case and ensuring that all eligible category people were vaccinated was the strategy required, he said.
Prime Minister Modi stressed the need to demarcate specific micro containment zones, almost ruling out a large scale lockdown of towns and cities and intensive testing and tracing within the micro containment zones. He was addressing state chief ministers via video conferencing as India found itself in the throes of a massive second wave of COVID19.
“Many states have faced criticisms due to high cases in their states, but I tell them that you need not bother, keep testing rates high, trace as many contacts, and test 100% in micro containment zones. These zones cannot be large undefined areas, if cases arise in a block of flats that tower can be a micro containment zone, the entire complex cannot be a containment zone,” he said.
He pointed out that during the last year when the pandemic first hit, the country was facing challenges of not having either enough testing labs, Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits, ventilators and oxygen. “Now, at least we have the experience and access to these resources when we take on this second wave,” he told chief ministers. He admitted that the long battle against COVID19 may have led to “COVID fatigue” among people and local administration, but that it needed to be gotten over and urged that governors of states and civil society members, people of influence be roped in to emphasise COVID appropriate behaviour again.
Teeka Utsav
“As far as night curfews are concerned, we must call them Corona curfew to stress the reason why this has become necessary,” he said. Prime Minister Modi also suggested that a “Teeka Utsav” (Vaccination Festival) be organised between April 11 (birth anniversary of social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule) and April 14th (birth anniversary of constitution framer Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar) as a way of ensuring maximum vaccinations of those in the eligible category. “A set out festival like this can be used to motivate many people to get themselves vaccinated,” he said.
On shortage of Vaccines
Addressing the issue of shortage of vaccines raised by various states, he again urged that strict testing and raising the share of testing by RTPCR to 70% of all tests be undertaken, stating “vaccination will be a long process which will go on side by side.”
“If you look at the way rich countries with easy access to vaccinations have carried their vaccination drives, you will find that India too has more or less followed the same pattern. I urge the youth, instead of waiting for the vaccine, to not just follow COVID19 appropriate behaviour, but also urge others and help those with less digital literacy and in the leigible category to be vaccinated to get themselves vaccinated,” he said.
“For those politicising the handling of vaccination or the pandemic, they can continue to do so, I am here to serve the people,” he said, an oblique reference to several Chief Ministers, especially in Maharashtra and Punjab who have said they are running out of vaccines.
Chief Ministers ask for buffer stock of Vaccines
According to sources present at the meeting, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray did raise the issue of vaccine shortage, and also asked for Centre to permit the production of vaccines at the Haffkine Training and Research Institute.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik asked for a buffer of 10 days as vaccine stock for his state at the meeting. “We are currently able to vaccinate 2.5 lakh persons per day and have the capacity to increase further. We request that at least a 10 day stock of the vaccine should be ensured for Odisha,” he said at the meeting. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that his state required a buffer of at least a week’s stock of vaccine’s in advance.
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