In the fresh guidelines regarding covid-19 containment, the chairperson State Executive Committee and Chief Secretary Arun kumar Mehta directed among others all districts to complete “overdue” second dose of covid vaccination within a week. The direction comes amid continued uptick in daily fresh cases this month. This is important in the middle of the statement by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) that no new variants of interest or concern have been seen in India.
Since full protection is achieved only with two doses, the governments need to pull out all the stops to increase the percentage of the fully vaccinated even while relentlessly increasing coverage.
As put by Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, third wave is staring and the situation demands “extraordinary commitment” to Covid Appropriate Behaviour).
In the face of the covid-19 pandemic, health officials have been, time and again, urging people to avoid crowds whenever possible.
Also the government has been stressing said that enforcement of CAB was “critical” in determining the need for “additional restrictions.”
The District Magistrates of J&K have been strictly asked to ensure that there is full compliance to Covid Appropriate Behaviour and defaulters be firmly dealt with under relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act and the Indian Penal Code. DMs have also been asked to constitute inspection teams of district officers to check whether the instructions for enforcement of CAB are being implemented by the concerned with due responsibility.
The uptick in infections has been concentrated in Srinagar and as per its deputy commissioner cases have cropped up due to marriage ceremonies.
The spurt in infections in Srinagar also testifies to the perils of complacency. There are, however, ample reasons why the rise in infections shouldn’t stoke pessimism. For one, much more is known about the virus in contemporary times than last year when governments across the globe were forced into one of the stringent lockdowns.
Vaccination remains the key to fight against the pestilence. If the government is able to meet the target of vaccinating the population with required doses, it would help reigning in the virus.
The need for caution cannot be overemphasised. On ground, the Covid protocols are observed in breach rather than compliance.
Efforts must be stepped up to prevent any probable future surge, especially predicted 3rd wave.
By vaccinating the targeted population at the earliest, the government will be able to save precious lives from any future threat. As such the pace of vaccination must be accelerated to ensure that the third wave is not a repeat of the second one.
