Shillong: The Meghalaya Government has once again emphasized on the need for vaccination against Covid-19 as an effective means to contain the spread of the virus with cases on the surge in the State.
Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare department, Sampath Kumar said there was a “continuum” of the rising daily cases, indicating that it was going towards a possible ‘third wave’ of the ongoing pandemic.
“Vaccinate as early as possible,” he said, adding that cases cannot be reduced because it’s an infectious variant of the virus, which is Delta-plus.
Pointing out there were a large number of cases in Kerala, yet the death rate was less because a large number of people in that state are also vaccinated, Kumar iterated that “vaccination is the key”, even as he pointed out that most of the COVID-19 related deaths were those of unvaccinated persons.
“Many people are still having the fear of going for testing and treating. We have medicines up to the ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) level now. By taking the guidance of the medical officer she can even give medicines to COVID-19 patients in the village,” he said.
“We have given a clarion call to get vaccinated. If you delay it, it can really impact the children because if adults get vaccinated, they will provide herd immunity and children will be saved. In the interest of the children and in the interest of the community, everybody has to vaccine,” the top official underscored.
He said that the health department was also focusing on the “most vaccine-hesitant villages” and talking to the people by organising focused group discussions involving doctors and asking them as to what were there fears regarding vaccination and subsequently clarifying the doubts.
“Everyone is coming for vaccination after that. We have created more self-help groups, which are more effective. Under National Rural Livelihood Mission, we have formed about 36,000 self-help groups, which are covering around 4 lakh households. So that is our penetration,” Kumar said.
“Very difficult now to stop this virus because it is very infectious,” he said, and pointed out that even the smallest exposure could get one affected, and iterated on the need for vaccination against COVID-19.
