Achieving Herd Immunity To Be A Long Process, Says Naveen At PM’s Meet With CMs

Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday reiterated Odisha’s support to the Central government in the fight against COVID-19.

Speaking at the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with chief ministers, Naveen said, over the last one year, the world has seen unprecedented crisis due to the COVID-19 situation. It was a difficult year for every human being as the virus spread to all parts of the world. Families and societies have been affected not only in terms of health crisis but also severe impact on the economy and livelihoods as well.

“We in Odisha are affected by disasters like cyclones almost every year. Our administrative machinery is well prepared to deal with crisis situations. Thankfully with the cooperation of people, we have been able to control the pandemic and limit its damage to a large extent,” he said.

He further said the roll-out of the vaccine has been helpful in providing hope to that the end of the pandemic is nearing. “We are ever grateful to the scientific community for developing vaccines at such short notice. It’s a matter of pride for us that India is leading in vaccine manufacture. We need to involve further the private sector in expediting the vaccination program,” he added.

Stating that the long period of this crisis has brought fatigue and complacency in following health protocols, Naveen said, “We need to be careful as multiple surges of COVID-19 spread is the reality in many countries and as witnessed in many states in India as well.”

“We cannot go back to the era of lockdowns. However, at the same time we need to ensure that the virus spread is also contained through renewed efforts in awareness and enforcement,” the chief minister said.

“As a country with huge population, achieving herd immunity will be a long process and in the meantime we all need to be extremely careful,” Naveen said assuring to continue all support to the Union Government in the fight against COVID-19.