Accelerate vaccine drive for adolescents in mission mode: PM Narendra Modi; top points of COVID-19 review meet

New Delhi: Amid the unprecedented surge in the COVID-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (January 9, 2022) chaired a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the country through a video conference. In the meeting, PM Modi directed officials to accelerate the vaccine drive for adolescents in mission mode.

The prime minister also reviewed the ongoing preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, status of the vaccination campaign in the country. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and other officials were also present at the meeting. 

Here are the key points of PM Modi’s review meet on COVID-19:

- In the meeting, the prime minister highlighted the need to ensure effective usage of masks and physical distancing measures as a new normal to control the spread, besides stressing on the need for effective implementation of home isolation for mild and asymptomatic cases. 

- PM Modi also said that a meeting with Chief Ministers will be convened. “A meeting with the Chief Ministers will be convened to discuss state-specific scenarios, bestpractices and the public health response,” he said. 

- PM also directed the officials to ensure adequate health infrastructure at the district level and accelerate the vaccine drive for adolescents in mission mode. 

- PM Modi put emphasis on the need for continuous scientific research in testing, vaccines and pharmacological interventions including genome sequencing given that the virus is evolving continuously. 

- The Prime Minister also spoke about the need to leverage telemedicine to ensure availability of health-related guidance to people in remote and rural areas.

- Top officials gave the Prime Minister a detailed overview of the Covid-19 situation including various predictive scenarios of peak cases. 

It may be noted that PM Modi’s review meeting comes as the country reported more than 1.5 lakh new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and the case tally of the Omicron variant of the virus reached 3,623 in the country. 

Additionally, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will chair a virtual meeting with the health ministers of five states and a union territory on Monday to review the COVID-19 situation amid an exponential rise in the cases, said officials sources.

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