Shillong, April 21: Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, today reviewed the COVID situation in all the districts of the State through video conferencing with the Deputy Commissioners and health officials.
Had a meeting with all DCs to discuss strategy on managing the #Covid #SecondWave. Urged everyone to give special focus on the #VaccinationDrive by identifying vulnerable locations & target groups & ensure the economic hardship/impact is minimized.@drharshvardhan pic.twitter.com/aEU1CIOTfT
— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) April 21, 2021
Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma said that the situation in the State is serious with cases rising every day but taking appropriate measures now can prevent the situation to get out of control in the days to come. “We have to take precautionary measures to avoid situations like Delhi and Mumbai by following strict COVID protocol and getting ourselves vaccinated,” he said. He added that people have slackened and let their guards down which needed to be followed again.
The Chief Minister also ruled out lockdown and said that the effort is to minimize economic restrictions however a balance between economic conditions and health safety must be maintained. He also informed that the State is among the lowest performers in COVID vaccination and the focus of the government will be on aggressive vaccination in the next 10 days. “We have set a target to vaccinate 6.5 lakh eligible beneficiaries for COVID vaccination in the next seven days by identifying the most vulnerable locations and target groups,” he said.
He urged the eligible beneficiaries to come forward and vaccinate themselves and urged different groups and stakeholders like Dorbar Shnongs, headmen, religious leaders etc to involve themselves in creating awareness and sensitization about the vaccination. “The vaccination is completely safe with minor side effects and though a person may be tested positive after the vaccination the symptoms are mild and does not prove fatal as compared to the ones who have not been vaccinated,” he added. He also said that people still need to follow COVID protocol after the vaccination.
The Chief Minister later visited several localities in the city where vaccination drives were being held and interacted with the beneficiaries to dispel fears and doubts regarding the vaccination.
