BHUBANESWAR : Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said the State government is focusing on vaccination to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and intended to utilise all resources to quickly inoculate all eligible people.
Chairing the first vaccination committee meeting, he sought advice of top health experts on the strategy to tackle the future waves of the pandemic and how to strengthen the healthcare system further. He said the government needs to fine-tune processes to defeat the deadly virus with the advice of experts.
Stating that the current trend of the Covid cases is on decline across the State except for a few districts, the Chief Minister hoped that the second wave is beginning to recede. Expressing concern over future waves in which there is possibility of children being infected, he said the State will have to be better prepared since taking care of the hospitals is a big challenge. Chairman of the committee K Srinath Reddy advised on different strategies for advance planning which could possibly be taken up as per opinion of doctors.
Committee member Lalit Kant said Covaxin production in India will touch 7.82 crore per month by August and Covishield production will touch 10 crore per month. He said 250 million Sputnik V doses will also be available. These apart, Novo Vax and Zydus Cadila may be available in future. Only Pfizer has been approved for children above 12 years. All other vaccines are studying on children, he added.
While member Ramakant Panda advised decentralisation of health system and use of medical grade oxygen for black fungus, Devi Shetty said vaccination should be done on the basis of occupation rather than age. Committee members Venkat Rao, Mrudula Fadke, Subrat Acharya and Ajay Parida also spoke.