Bhubaneswar: A day after Odisha made 14-day quarantine mandatory for people coming to the state from West Bengal, Director, Health and Family Welfare, Bijay Panigrahi on Friday informed that the triple mutant variant of COVID-19 has been reported in West Bengal, Delhi, and Chhattisgarh.
“The new variant has not been detected in Odisha yet. It is being studied if the vaccine can prevent the new variant of the virus,” he said.
Panigrahi said that the government has to take the matter seriously and tightened vigil in Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, and Bhadark, bordering West Bengal.
Also Read: Triple Mutant Variant: Odisha Makes 14-Day Quarantine Mandatory For People Travellinf From Bengal
On the ongoing inoculation drive, Panigrahi said that the session sites will remain closed on weekends. These sites will be sanitised on these days. “All private hospitals will have to source their vaccines directly from the manufacturers from May,” he said.
He further said that 54,41,478 people have so far been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Odisha. “Only 50 cases of infection after vaccination has been reported and most of these were detected after the first dose of inculcation,” he added.
Vaccination, however, had been halted at 800 centres in the state due to vaccine shortage, he added.
