Rajesh Tope says owing to the Omicron scare, the government has decided to send a request to vaccinate kids in the near future, and give booster shots to fully vaccinated citizens
The Union health minister in November said that the central government did not want to rush its decision to vaccinate children against COVID-19. Representation pic
Worried about Omicron, the new Coronavirus variant detected in adults as well as children, the state government has decided to approach the Centre seeking approval to vaccinate the youngsters, too, health minister Rajesh Tope said on Monday. It also wants boosters for the fully vaccinated citizens, he added.
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“The COVID-19 task force has expressed an urgent need for vaccinating the children. It also wants a booster dose for the fully vaccinated. We will ask the Centre to allow us these two things,” he said. He added that the task force would ask Thackeray to communicate the recommendation to the Union government.
Speaking ahead of the state COVID-19 Task Force’s weekly meeting with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Tope said the government has not yet thought of imposing more restrictions.
On November 11, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the Centre does not want to rush its decision of vaccinating children. “Since this is a matter related to children, the expert group is carrying out further studies,” he had said.
More genome sequencing laboratories
Since genome sequencing is crucial for detecting Omicron, two more laboratories will be set up in Aurangabad and Nagpur, on the recommendations of the task force. “The three existing labs may be insufficient if the new variant, which is highly transmissible, spreads widely,” said the minister, adding that until [early] Sunday [evening] the state had only eight Omicron cases. Two more cases were later reported in Mumbai.
“We are working efficiently on the T3 principle—test, treat, track--and keeping a keen eye on public events where COVID-19 protocol could be violated. We will make the vigilance even stricter,” he said.
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No. of additional genome sequencing labs the state will get
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