U.T. ramping up measures on a war footing to become fully vaccinated

Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan will launch vaccination programme today

With the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination programme removing the age filter from Thursday in order to facilitate anyone above 45 years to get a shot, Puducherry is ramping up measures on a war footing to become a fully vaccinated Union Territory.

Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan will launch a vaccination programme, targeted exclusively at women, by taking the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine at the Rajiv Gandhi Government Women and Children’s Hospital at 10 a.m. on Friday.

Addressing a press conference at the Raj Nivas, Ms. Soundararajan said she was getting vaccinated to instil confidence in the public to volunteer for immunisation against COVID-19.

She noted that there had been a surge of fresh cases in the recent weeks across the country, while some countries were considering going into lockdown to contain the second and third wave of the infection. “It is too early to consider a harsh measure like a lockdown. But it can neither be completely ruled out if the spread of the variant strain of the coronavirus is not contained. The best strategy is to prevent the spread through vaccination and adoption of safety measures,” she said.

Pointing out that unlike last year when hospitals were flooded with COVID-19 patients, she said the advantage now was that the country was able to develop an effective vaccine. The health administration is scaling up testing infrastructure, given the spurt in fresh infections, she added.

Ms. Soundararajan urged the public to seize the opportunity to get themselves immunised at the earliest. Vaccination facilities were now available at all government hospitals/PHCs and private medical colleges. “We have adequate stocks of vaccines and have also made arrangements to scale up in accordance with demand,” she said.

‘Follow protocols’

The Lt. Governor reiterated her appeal to the public to maintain guard by wearing masks, sanitising hands and maintaining distancing. She also urged political parties and attendees of rallies to adopt safe practices during electioneering.

Meanwhile, 868 healthcare workers, 1,394 frontline personnel and 1,431 members of the public took their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine in the last 24 hours.

With this, the number of people vaccinated in the Union Territory stood at 72,155 — 27,236 healthcare workers, 13,352 frontline staff and 31,567 members of the public.

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