PANAJI
The State government on Friday constituted a 15-member special task force with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant declaring that the government will be prepared within a month to face the third wave of Covid pandemic.
The first meeting of the task force, which comprises both private and government doctors, was convened on Friday evening under the chairmanship of Sawant with Health Minister Vishwajit Rane as the committee’s vice-chairman.
The CM announced the decision to put together the task force following the Cabinet meeting on Friday morning. Briefing media, he stated, “We have constituted a 15-member task force to begin preparation for the third wave of Covid pandemic even as we hope that it does not hit Goa. Besides this, an expert committee will continue to take a review of the standard operating protocol and infrastructure requirements under the supervision of Goa Medical College and Hospital Dean Dr S M Bandekar.”
Acting on the alarm sounded by many virologists and doctors that the third wave of the pandemic is likely to affect children in a big way, the Goa government has involved eminent private and government paediatric specialists in both the committees. The government has parallely begun taking steps to upgrade the paediatric ICU at GMC.
The task force met within hours of its constitution and began compiling suggestions concerning the infrastructure requirements in government as well as private setup for the third wave.
“We have started to compile the treatment protocol and list out the purchases which will be necessary for it. All these things will be listed out within a matter of eight days. Within a month, we will be prepared with the infrastructure and equipment to face the third wave,” CM stated after attending the meeting on Friday evening.
The task force has suggested, among other steps, the training of around 120 paediatricians, health department doctors, paramedical and nursing staff. Additionally, certified counsellors will also be trained in Preventive Systems of Medicines and paediatric medicine at taluka level. Sawant assured that the overall preparation has already been set in motion.
Meanwhile, Sawant acknowledged the growing discontent among Goan youth over the unavailability of Covid vaccine doses at the government health centres even as non-Goans have begun to flock to Goa to receive their first doses. Sawant explained that it was the central government which holds complete control over the vaccination drive.
“We have been requesting for excess doses of the vaccine so that we can initiate walk-in vaccination protocol for Goans. We cannot stop anyone including persons from other states from registering on Co-WIN portal and taking the vaccine in Goa,” he said adding that the state government is also in the process of floating a global tender so that enough vaccine doses can be procured to commence walk-in vaccination.
