People above 60, those with comorbidities can get Covid vaccine at dist hospitals: K'taka minister
Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister for Medical Education Dr Sharan Prakash Patil on Tuesday said people above 60 years and those with comorbidities can get vaccinated for the Covid-19 from January 3 onwards at the district hospitals in the wake of rising infections of JN-1 sub-variant.
The minister, however, underlined that there was no need to panic and urged people to take precautionary measures to tackle the spread of the virus.
In the wake of rising cases of JN-1 sub-variant of Covid-19 in the state, the minister convened a meeting with the heads of medical institutions and hospitals coming under the purview of the medical education department along with the head of the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee and its members here.
Patil reviewed the prevailing situation and took stock of the preparedness to tackle Covid-19 in the state.
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After the meeting the minister said in a statement that there was no specific direction from the Central government on new vaccines.
"We will give the same vaccines that were administered during the first and second wave of the pandemic and the people above 60 years and those with comorbidities can get vaccinated at district hospitals from Wednesday," Patil said.
According to him, the experts have opined that the JN-1 sub-variant is likely to spread rapidly but unlikely to cause serious health issues. So there was no need to panic.
He also said that the government will not issue orders making masks mandatory but people need to be careful at crowded places.
"Even though the WHO and many health experts have stated that the JN-1 sub-variant is unlikely to cause serious health problems for infected people, I've instructed the officials to be vigilant and take precautionary measures and create awareness among the people. The state has received 30,000 Covid vaccines from the Centre and we have taken all the steps to prevent shortage," said the minister.
Clarifying about the availability of medicine, oxygen beds and equipments, the minister denied cash crunch regarding purchase of those items. He said a proposal will be sent to the finance department regarding purchase of equipments and recruitment of staff in some hospitals.
Explaining the cause of death of the 10 people who died in the state recently, Dr Patil denied that Covid was the cause and said that the patients had been suffering from various diseases. He further added that nine out of 10 people were suffering from heart, kidney and other ailments and one person from Mangaluru was an alcoholic and was not vaccinated.
Regarding the meeting with the officials, the minister said he has directed the officials to reserve 50 beds for Covid patients in each district hospital According to him, 18,141 beds in medical colleges, 10,000 in government hospitals and 11,500 beds coming under the Health and Family Welfare department are available for Covid patients.
The minister said testing capacities and healthcare facilities will be augmented in all districts and arrangements have been made for separate oxygen beds and ICUs in all government medical institutions Stating that 30,000 vaccines are presently available, Patil appealed to people who have missed vaccination and booster shots to avail of this facility.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
