In a virtual meeting with District magistrates on May 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concerns over the shortage of coronavirus vaccines in India. He urged officials to guardagainst the wasting of vaccine doses.
Claiming the wise use of vaccines ‘critical’ the PM said ‘wasting even one dose of the vaccine- of which there is a shortage amid the devastating second wave, meantdepriving a person of a degree of protection.’
“When the vaccines are delivered to you all, we must ensure that there is no vaccine wastage. You all must monitor this in both urban and rural areas. Stopping vaccine wastageis crucial and you all must ensure no vaccine dose is wasted,” he added while directing district officials.
In the same meeting, Prime Minister urged the officials to collect data on Covid infected children. He said that there is a worrying possibility that the virus which so far has not attackedthe younger age groups, mutates and spread across the country.
In the first wave of coronavirus, children were identified as 'safe' from covid as compared to adults. However, with the beginning of second-wave, a huge number of Covid19 patientsare children or young people. Uttarakhand has reported around 1,000 children below nine years have contracted Coronavirus infection in a week.
“Concerns have been raised for young people and children due to the mutation of the virus. I request you to collect data related to infection among youth and children in your districtand review it continuously,” PM Modi said.
The virtual meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi involved representation from 11 states including Maharashtra, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh.
Other states involved in the meeting are Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Odisha, Rajasthan, Bengal and Andhra Pradesh along with the Union Territory of Puducherry.