In a high-level meeting conducted by the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Monday, 27 December, the poll-bound states of Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab were advised to speedily ramp up the COVID-19 vaccination of all eligible populations.
As per the government press release, the states were also advised to draw up district-wise weekly vaccination implementation plans and to review the implementation status on a daily basis.
Further, they were asked to “exponentially increase the testing to ensure that the infected cases are identified promptly for timely initiation of public health response measures and to ensure that there is no sudden upsurge in numbers due to low testing.”
The state authorities were also asked to effectively enforce COVID-appropriate behaviour.
The meeting is said to have been carried out in a bid to review the public health response measures for containment and management of COVID-19.
Vaccination Status of Poll-Bound States
The vaccination status in the five poll-bound states was also discussed.
As per the Centre’s press release, "Uttarakhand and Goa have reported vaccination coverage for the first and second doses higher than the national average. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur have reported vaccination coverage numbers below the national average."
A total of 142.38 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far.
Of the total number, more than 83.80 crore are first doses and more than 58.58 crore are second doses.
Meanwhile, India reported 6,531 new coronavirus cases and 315 deaths on Monday, 27 December. Number of Omicron cases also rose to 578, with poll-bound Goa reporting its first case of the new Omicron variant in an 8-year-old boy.
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