PM stresses on vax, localised measures

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with chief ministers over the Covid-19 situation in the country and stressed on local containment of the virus spread as well as ensuring minimum damage to livelihood while making strategies to deal with the surge in cases due to the Omicron variant.

In his remarks at the meeting, the Prime Minister underlined the importance of vaccination and the need to further accelerate the 'Har Ghar Dastak' programme to achieve 100 per cent vaccination coverage. "We have vaccinated nearly three crore adolescents within 10 days and this shows India's potential and our preparedness to deal with this challenge," Modi said. The prime minister said that vaccines made in India are proving their superiority all over the world. "It is a matter of pride for every Indian that today India has given the first dose to about 92 per cent of the adult population. The coverage of second dose has also reached around 70 per cent in the country," he said.

Modi said the Central and State governments must continue with pre-emptive, pro-active and collective approach followed so far in fighting the pandemic. "The sooner we give precautionary dose to frontline workers and senior citizens, the stronger our healthcare system will become," he said. Modi asserted that it is very important to safeguard the economy and livelihood of common people while framing Covid strategies. "There should be minimum damage to the livelihood of the common people, economic activities, and the momentum of the economy be maintained. It is very important to keep these things in mind while making any (containment) strategy," Modi said.

"So it would be better to focus more on local containment," he added. Modi said 130 crore people of India will surely emerge victorious from the coronavirus pandemic with their collective efforts. The doubts that were there earlier about Omicron are slowly getting cleared now, he noted.