Indian PM Modi says COVID jabs for kids a priority, urges caution at meet with CMs
Narendra Modi
On Wednesday (April 27), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged State governments to speed up COVID-19 vaccination for youngsters and increase genome sequencing to check newer strains amid fears of a fresh viral outbreak as daily incidence reached a six-week high.
“India has reopened schools after a very long time. Rising cases are a worry for parents and we have also been hearing of children being infected.We need to stay alert given the way cases have risen in some states in the last two weeks,” PM Modi said after meeting chief ministers of Indian states on Wednesday.
He asked states to consider school-based vaccination programs and to strengthen their health-care infrastructure.
The South Asian country, which has been among the worst-affected in the world, reported 2,927 new cases on Wednesday, the most in a single day since March 13, bringing the overall official tally to 43 million. The number of deaths increased slightly, bringing the total to 523,654.
Also read | India gives emergency use authorisation to Covaxin for 6-12 age group
India, which has immunised 85 percent of its adult population, has lately permitted children above the age of five to receive Covid vaccinations.
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Given the trauma of a terrible outbreak last summer in which daily cases surpassed 400,000, hospitals and crematoriums were overwhelmed, Modi's remarks reflect broader popular fear over the likelihood of a new infection wave.
Last year, when the deadly delta variety swept over the crowded nation of nearly 1.4 billion people, individuals took to social media to plead for oxygen and other medical resources.
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