Jamshedpur, Dec 23: Amid fresh Covid scare, the health department has resumed vaccination drives in various centres across steel city from Friday. Vaccination started in four centres: Sadar Hospital, Parivar Kalyan Sansthan in Telco, Keenan Stadium and MGM Medical College and Hospital.
According to information, each of the centres has been given a daily target of completing 200 vaccinations. The district civil surgeon’s office also issued a directive making face masks mandatory in MGM Medical College and Hospital and Sadar Hospital.
Notably, the state health department on Thursday directed all district administrations to be alert for new Covid variant B4.7.
The letter from the additional chief secretary (health) Arun Kumar Singh, sent across all the 24 deputy commissioners with copies to the civil surgeons, refers to the sudden spurt in Covid-19 cases reported from some countries such as Japan, USA, the Republic of Korea and China and lays emphasis on monitoring the trends of existing variants and directs to ensure whole genome sequencing of all positive cases through genome sequencing lab.
Health department officials in East Singhbhum have been asked to remain alert and create awareness about wearing face masks, using hand sanitisers and maintaining social distance.
The district administration has asked all authorities to focus on adopting extra preparedness measures in view of the New Year season and to ensure that the COVID protocol is in place in all shops and establishments and markets where people are likely to congregate.
The official further said that vaccination is the key to ending the pandemic, and officials have asked to complete the booster dose of all beneficiaries on priority. Citizens displaying symptoms are advised to get themselves tested for COVID immediately. “The administration is encouraging the use of face masks in public institutions and places. Information, education and communication regarding the new threat will be carried out on a large scale,” he added.
He noted that many people have still not taken their booster shots, which is why we need to get the message across that vaccines can save lives. There is enough data to prove that vaccines are one of the most important strategies to prevent severe illness and mortality. We need to understand their importance and convince people to take precautionary doses so that the virus can be controlled. Doctors have observed that though vaccination doesn’t provide protection against infection but it does help in containing the severity, lowering the mortality rate.