Centre Tells States: ‘COVID Not Over, Focus On Vaccine For Children, Booster For Elderly’

New Delhi: COVID-19 cases have been rising in India. To ensure that the country doesn’t drop its guard, the Central government has urged states and Union territories to focus on ramp up COVID vaccination coverage for school children and precaution dose for the elderly.

“COVID is not over yet. There are reports of rising cases of COVID in some states. It is important at this time to be alert and not forget COVID-appropriate behaviour such as wearing masks and maintaining physical distance to prevent spread of the infection,” Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Monday during a meeting with Health ministers and senior officials of states and UTs.

He stressed on the importance of COVID vaccination among vulnerable age-groups and urged state Health ministers to personally review status and progress of the special month-long drive Har Ghar Dastak 2.0 campaign which started on June 1.

“Let us accelerate our efforts to identify all beneficiaries in the 12-17 age group for the first and second doses, so they can attend schools with the protection of the vaccine,” he said.

He advised states and UTs to strengthen surveillance and focus on genome sequencing to identify possible new mutants or variants.

The minister also spoke about implementing revised guidelines which focuses on surveillance of international travellers arriving in India.