PANAJI
This Ganesh Chaturthi, people should enquire with friends and well-wishers as to whether they have feasted neurios as well as about their vaccination status, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday, while urging people of the state to use Goa's most popular Hindu festival for the promotion and creation of awareness about Covid vaccination.
Sawant said that it is the responsibility of Goan host families to ensure that relatives and friends who are likely to converge in Goa for the traditional festival, are tested if they have symptoms or are tested RT-PCR negative to stop the further spread of the infection and keep the third wave of the pandemic at bay.
"Don't just ask if you have eaten neurios for Chaturthi, ask whether the person has taken a vaccine too. We will be able to promote vaccination during Chaturthi," the Chief Minister said.
"Do forget to get yourself tested just because you feel you might miss out on the Chaturthi festival. It is okay if you skip Chaturthi festivities for a year, but get yourself tested for your own sake and more importantly for your children. We have not vaccinated our children yet," Sawant told a CSR function.
"Those visiting Goa for Ganesh Chaturthi or those hosts in homes where the guests arrive should have a sense of responsibility. We have to check whether the person has come from Kerala or Mumbai, has the person done an RT-PCR, is there a cough or cold, does the person have symptoms? The hosts should force them to get tested. Only if we take these precautions, will we be able to thwart the next wave," Sawant also said.
The Chief Minister also said that Goa had completed 100 per cent of the first vaccination dose, but added that census incongruencies, which includes the absence of listed residents who are out of the state for various reasons including employment, was an impediment to announce 100 per cent completion of the first dose.
"We have been able to complete 100 per cent vaccination of the first dose. Eligible people from the state are around 11.50 lakh. No doubt 40,000 to 50,000 doses have been given to migrants and tourists who live here, but equally, there are 40,000 to 50,000 people who are not staying in the state, but they are listed in our population census," Sawant said.
"We have not declared 100 per cent vaccination, although Himachal Pradesh has done it, because, in our census, government data is different," he added.
Sawant, however, said that there was a reluctance among people to take the second dose, a sign which he said does not bode well, especially with the threat of the third wave looming.
"Now is the time to take the second dose. It is my request from the government. Take the second dose on time. Do not neglect it. There is no shortage of vaccines. There are excess vaccines available with the Health Department," Sawant said.
"20 per cent have skipped the date for the second dose. They still are not visiting vaccination centres. This will not do. We request people to take the vaccine," he also said.
