Chandigarh (Punjab): As the threat of the new variant of Covid looms large, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi chaired a meeting to review the preparedness in wake of the Omicron threat at Punjab Bhawan on Tuesday. He directed the Health and Medical Education Research Departments to work together to further accelerate the vaccination campaign so that all eligible persons across the state can be vaccinated at the earliest.
Apprising the Chief Minister about the status of Covid vaccination in the state so far, Secretary Health and Family Welfare, Vikas Garg said that out of a total 2.46 crore eligible population, 1.66 crore (80 per cent) have been given the first dose and 79.87 lakh (38 per cent) have been given the second dose.
He also said that at present, a stock of 46 lakh doses is available with the Health Department and that the medical and paramedical teams are actively engaged to vaccinate the remaining eligible population. Apart from this, around 30,000 covid tests are also being done on a daily basis.
Giving further information, Garg informed the Chief Minister that the department is fully prepared to face any threat in case of the rising cases of the new Covid variant, Omicron and all the necessary equipment has been procured by the department to deal with any situation, which includes 12 lakh rapid antigen kits, 17 lakh VTM test kits, RTPCR labs for 20 districts, pediatric L2 (790) and L3 (324) beds. Besides this, suitable stock of medicines for adult L2(3500) and L3(142) bed and covid patients are also included.
READ: Evidence suggests Omicron has 'increased infectivity' but no 'severe profile': Dr Fauci
Expressing satisfaction over the arrangements made so far to deal with the possible wave arising out of the new variant, the Chief Minister said that even though not a single case of Omicron has been reported in the state, no laxity can be shown by the state government in this regard.
Among others, Deputy Chief Minister OP Soni, who also holds the health portfolio, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Husan Lal, Principal Secretary Home Anurag Verma, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Rahul Tiwari and DGP Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota were also present during the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also appealed to the people to get themselves vaccinated at the earliest without any relaxation to protect themselves from possible infection caused by Omicron after taking his second dose of the Covid vaccine.
