MARGAO
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday exuded confidence that Goa would achieve 100 per cent Covid vaccination by October 31, even as he sought cooperation on this front and appealed to the people not to neglect the second dose.
Affirming that the state was fully prepared to face the third wave, the CM said the government has toned up the infrastructure, including human resources, to meet any eventuality.
He said people should also be prepared to face any situation.
The CM was speaking at the commissioning of the automatic oxygen generation plant at the South Goa district hospital in the presence of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, Health Director Dr Jose D’Sa, CMD Goa Shipyard Ltd Commander B B Nagpal, Hospicio Medical Superintendent Dr Deepa Correia.
The oxygen plant has been set up by Goa Shipyard Ltd under its CSR project.
Sawant said Goa has completed 100 per cent vaccination of the first dose. “Around 11.50 lakh eligible population has been vaccinated. Goa would have become fully vaccinated state if the 50,000 population, comprising migrants and tourists, were not shown in the government of India population census,” he said and added, “Due to this reason, Goa has not been declared as the fully vaccinated (with first dose) state. We are coordinating with the government of India on this issue.”
While complimenting the healthcare workers for the Tika Utsav, Sawant said Goa can complete full Covid vaccination by October 31 if the people cooperate and take the second dose. “There is no shortage of vaccines. We request the people to cooperate and take the second dose. We have found that 20 per cent of the people who had taken the first dose have neglected taking the second dose,” he said.
While thanking Goa Shipyard for providing the oxygen plant under the CSR activity, the Chief Minister said the government has put in place a network, right from healthcare workers to ambulances, to meet any Covid-related situation.
Union Minister Shripad Naik also complimented the healthcare workers for putting in hard work during the pandemic, saying they will always be remembered. Saying that Covid had thrown up many challenges, he complimented the government and the officials for the handling of the pandemic.
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said Goa may not witness a surge in Covid cases like other states because of the intensive vaccination undertaken by the government. “The Goa Shipyard-funded oxygen plant will help strengthen oxygen supply. We have sufficient liquid oxygen at the GMC as well,” he added.
