Puducherry launches COVID booster dose drive of health care staff, senior citizens

Puducherry has sufficient stock of COVID-19 vaccines and the hospitals here are also fully equipped with necessary infrastructures to rise to any exigency and meet the demand of patients turning up with virus-related complaints, Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said on Monday.

Stating this while inaugurating the booster dose vaccination at the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital for Women and Child here, she said, “We should thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making available the vaccines to prevent an onslaught of COVID-19 among the people.” Soundararajan said the administering of booster doses or ‘precautionary’ doses was necessary at a time when cases of the new variant Omicron is on the rise across the country.

She said the doctors, medical staff, and those above 60 years along with frontline workers should be protected against any potential attack. The L-G called upon people to get themselves vaccinated as inoculation alone would protect them from the virus.

Earlier while chairing an emergency meeting of the COVID Management Committee held at her office, the L-G said Chief Minister N Rangasamy and herself had already inspected premises of AFT, the port and other buildings in the Union Territory to set up beds and Covid care centres.

“Presently the government has sufficient beds, medicines and other infrastructure to meet the demand for beds, oxygen beds and other facilities,” she said.

There was no report of adverse effect in the wake of administering the vaccines. She said 95 per cent of government staff had received the jabs.

The L-G felt that a total lockdown during weekends would cause panic among the people but added that the government has intensified curbs to control the gatherings that were normally seen in certain pockets in the UT.

Celebration of Pongal was not banned, however, the authorities have been asked to keep vigil on the adherence to COVID protocols by the people celebrating the festival, Soundararajan said.

Secretary to Health Udhayakumar, Director of Health G Sriramulu, Nodal Officer J Ramesh were among those present during the meeting.

Puducherry registered 489 fresh cases of infections on Monday and the test positivity rate was 31.15 per cent. Schools also were closed until further orders in the UT for students of classes 1 to 9 in view of the rise in cases.