As India battles the third wave of coronavirus and Omicron cases rise, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has requested for an emphasis on the new strain and immunisation of children aged 15 to 18. He stated that no stone should be left unturned in terms of preparing infrastructure to handle a large influx.
He warned that nations throughout the world are seeing a 3-4 fold increase in Covid-19 instances compared to their previous peaks. “Because the Omicron variety is highly transmissible, a large rise in cases might overwhelm the medical system,” the ministry of health stated.
“We have put up a strong battle against Covid before and this learning must be utilised to re-focus on efforts against the Omicron form,” Mandviya said in a meeting with state health ministers and top officials a day before the immunisation for the age range 15-18 years is introduced. He urged states to concentrate on vaccination plans for the 15-18 age range as well as prophylactic doses for eligible individuals. He advised states to plan ahead of time for the distribution of Covaxin to establish session venues for the 15-18 age range.
States were also instructed to develop a weekly plan to catch up with and exceed the national average in vaccine coverage, and to monitor the plan’s execution on a daily basis. This is especially important in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Manipur, which are all poll-bound states.
Separate CVCs, separate session sites, separate line (if at same session where adult vaccination is occurring) and separate vaccination crew (if at same session site) should all be aimed for to avoid vaccine mixing during delivery. States/UTs were also encouraged to communicate their immunization dosage requirements by utilising CoWIN to estimate recipients by district. They were advised to arrange ahead of time for the delivery of Covaxin to specified session sites and to publish sessions for at least 15 days to ensure enough visibility.
