Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting with chief ministers of all states and UTs today to review the status and preparedness of Covid-19 response and management, with special emphasis on eight high focus states.
These states were Haryana, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and West Bengal. The modalities of Covid-19 vaccine delivery, distribution, and administration were also discussed during the meeting.
Ramping up health infrastructure
Prime Minister remarked that the country has faced the pandemic through concerted efforts and in terms of both recovery rate and fatality rate. He also said that the situation in India is better than most other countries.
He talked about the expansion of the testing and treatment network and noted that the special emphasis of the PM CARES fund has been to make oxygen available to all Covid patients. He said that efforts are on to make medical colleges and district hospitals self-sufficient in terms of oxygen generation, and informed that the process for establishing more than 160 new oxygen plants is under way.
Four stages of people’s response
Stating that it is important to understand how the people have reacted to the pandemic, the Prime Minister noted that it can be broken down into four stages.
- The first was fear when people reacted in panic.
- The second stage saw cropping up of doubts about the virus when several people tried to hide that they had been afflicted by it.
- The third stage was of acceptance when people became more serious about the virus and displayed greater alertness.
- In the fourth stage, with increasing recovery rate, people have developed a false notion of security from the virus, thus leading to a rise in instances of negligence.
Prime Minister emphasized that it is of utmost importance to increase awareness about the seriousness of the virus in the fourth stage.
He noted that the trend of increase in the spread of the pandemic in countries where its impact was earlier lessening, is being seen in some states as well, which necessitates greater alacrity and caution by the administration.
Prime Minister noted that it is important to increase RT-PCR tests, ensure better monitoring of patients especially those in home isolation, better equip health centers at village and community level, and keep running awareness campaigns for safety from the virus. He said that our target should be to bring down the fatality rate below 1%.
Ensuring Smooth, Systematic, and Sustained Vaccination
PM reassured that the government is keeping a close watch on the development of vaccines and is in constant touch with with Indian developers and manufacturers, along with global regulators, governments of other countries, multilateral institutions, and international companies.
He added that it will be ensured that the vaccine for citizens will meet all necessary scientific criteria. He underlined that just like the focus in the fight against Covid-19 has been on saving each and every life, the priority will be to ensure that the vaccine reaches everyone.
Governments at all levels will have to work together to ensure that the vaccination drive is smooth, systematic, and sustained.
Prime Minister noted that the priority of vaccination is being decided in consultation with the States. The requirements of additional cold chain storage have also been discussed with the States.
He asked the chief ministers to ensure regular monitoring of the state-level steering committee and state & district level task force to ensure better results.
Prime Minister forewarned that past experience tells us several myths and rumors are spread around vaccines. Rumors about the side effects of the vaccine may be spread. He emphasized that such attempts need to be tackled through spreading greater awareness, by taking all possible help including civil society, students of NCC & NSS, and the media.