Amid rising Covid-19 cases in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday, chaired a meeting with Chief Ministers of various states via video conferencing to assess the health situation across India.
During the meeting, PM Modi said that Covid vaccination of all eligible children at the earliest is a priority for the government and specialised programs will need to be conducted for it in schools.
PM Modi also asserted that it is clear that the threat of coronavirus is not fully gone yet. Citing a rise in Covid-19 cases in some states in the last two weeks, he said there was a need to remain alert.
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"Our scientists and experts are continuously monitoring the national and global situation. We have to work on their suggestions with a pre-emptive, pro-active, and collective approach," he said.
Stopping the infection at the very beginning has been our priority as well and it should remain the same even today.
"We have to implement our strategy of Test, Track and Treat equally effectively. In the current situation of coronavirus, it is necessary that we have 100 percent RT-PCR test for patients admitted in hospitals who are serious influenza cases," PM Modi said.
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Asserting that vaccine is the biggest protective shield against the virus, Modi said Covid vaccination of all eligible children at the earliest is a priority for the government and specialised programs will need to be conducted in schools.
He said awareness of parents and children is very important in this regard.
His remarks come a day after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said India's drug regulator has granted restricted emergency use authorisation for Biological E's Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax for those aged five to 12 years and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children in the age group of six to 12 years.
Several chief ministers, including West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee, Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel, Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab's Bhagwant Mann, participated in the interaction.
