In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a ‘Tika Utsav’ (Vaccine festival) from April 11 to 14, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed health officials to plan for 6 lakh vaccinations per day during the four days of the utsav.
Andhra hopes to vaccinate a total of 24 lakh people during the Tika Utsav, including 4 lakh people in rural areas and 2 lakh people in urban areas per day. The CM asked officials to prepare an action plan to achieve this target.
The Andhra Pradesh government said that it will be writing to the Union Ministry of Health asking for supply of more vaccines in order to achieve the 24 lakh vaccinations target. In the last week of March, the state had written to the Union government urging it to send more vaccines. However, as the vaccine didn’t arrive on time, the AP government moved vaccines from Chennai to replenish the state’s depleting stock.
CM Jagan held a review meeting with Health Department officials after attending the video conference with Prime Minister Modi on Thursday. Home Minister Mekathoti Sucharita, Chief Secretary Adityanath Das, DGP Gautam Sawang, Medical Health Special Chief Secretary Anil Kumar Singhal, Medical and Health Chief Secretary (COVID-19 Management and Vaccination) Muddada Ravichandra, Health, Medical and Family Welfare Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar, and other senior officials were present at the meeting.
Andhra Pradesh has been vaccinating around 1.3 lakh people on a daily basis. According to Health Department officials, the state is capable of increasing this number but is limited by the shortage of vaccines.
CM Jagan reiterated to the officials that vaccination is the only way to prevent COVID-19 and hence there needs to be more focus on the drive. It is estimated that there are around 1 crore more people who are above 45 years of age and eligible to be vaccinated.
The CM also asked officials to continue to focus on testing, tracing and treatment. He directed officials to take strict action against all those not wearing masks.
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