Do not panic, take your Covid shots: Goa Health Minister

Panaji, June 8

Urging people to get their elders, above 60 years, administered the precautionary Covid vaccine shot, Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Wednesday said that those aged between 12 to 14 and 15 to 17 will be covered 100 per cent as schools have reopened.

"Elders eligible for precautionary doses should come forward and take the jab. Our teams even can go to their homes to administer the dose or at place where people can come in groups," he told reporters after a meeting of the Expert Committee.

"We discussed how the virus affects, when a person above 60 or may be having co-morbidity, immunity of every person is different. So it (Covid) can affect it in different ways, sometimes it can lead to mortality. So it is very important to take precautionary doses," he said.

Rane said that the Health Department has stressed on achieving a target of 100 per cent vaccination to the age group from 12 to 14 and 15 to 17. "In the age group 12 to 14, 66.25 per cent of students got the first dose, while 48.37 per cent took second. In the age group 15 to 17, first dose percentage is 93.68 and 80.58 of second dose," he said.

"As now schools have reopened, our teams will go into schools and will vaccinate students," he said.

Rane also said that there is no reason to panic.

"This meeting was not to create any type of sensation or panic in the minds of people. But the whole idea was to see the number of vaccinations done in students and also to assess and appeal to the people that everyone has to wear a mask, obey social distance wherever they go in crowded and public places," he said.

He said that there is a recommendation to allow private paediatric clinics to administer the Covid doses.