The Health Ministry in collaboration with the agencies concerned should assess the demand of vaccine supporter shots to attack different variants of the coronavirus, an administrative commission has recommended.
Taking note of the trouble posed by the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, the Administrative Standing Committee on Home Affairs recommended that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) should assess the demand of supporter boluses in India to address the different variants of the contagion.
“The commission would like to know whether any exploration has been conducted by ICMR and other concerned institutions regarding the efficacity of the vaccines that are being given or administered in the country against colorful variants,” it said in a report tabled in Lok Sabha on Friday.
Italicizing that the nature and acridity of COVID-19 epidemic is” changeable”, the commission advised that alertness and preparedness can not be compromised at any stage.
The commission recommended that the Union Home Ministry may advise the countries to not gauge down the COVID-19 structure similar as testing installation, ICU beds and medical oxygen as the contagion may give rise to a third surge without giving sufficient time to reply given its deceptive nature and emergence of multiple variants.
“They should be kept in a dormant state so that they can be reactivated to deal with the posterior surge of the epidemic that might come up,”it recommended. The commission also recommended ramping up the structure for COVID-19 cases in view of the compliances of experts and epidemiologists that a possible third surge may target the non-vaccinated population, especially the children.
In its recommendations, the commission also asked the Ministries of Home Affairs and Health to take up the issue of guidelines on obsession of ceiling on price of sanitarium beds during the epidemic and other public health extremities.
“Due hype may be given to these rates so that people are apprehensive of the price of sanitarium beds and a monitoring medium may be created to put a check on black-marketing of essential lifesaving medicines and selling of sanitarium beds above ceiling price,”it said.
The panel recommended that the Home Ministry and the Health Ministry should issue authorised bulletins on COVID-19 matters through colorful media in order to avoid fear and confusion among the millions created by different prognostications from experts and epidemiologists regarding a possible third surge.
