Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Sunday said that the state government's first priority now is to vaccinate as many people as possible against COVID-19 to prevent a third wave of the infection.
"Our current objective is to vaccinate everyone as soon as possible. This can prevent the next wave of coronavirus infection," the Minister said.
Dr Sudhakar also appealed to the public not to ignore the COVID safety measures.
Speaking to reporters, the minister said: "If not vaccinated against COVID, there will be chances of a third or fourth waves. An experiment is underway in order to invent the vaccine for children. Vaccines are being given to the elderly and young people."
The Minister said two-dose recipients must follow the COVID safety measures until the entire process is complete. He requested the public to wear masks and maintain other COVID-appropriate behaviours for another six months or one year.
He said, the Central government is distributing Remdisivir drugs as per the requirements of the states. The Central government had instructed the state to buy the drug directly because it is available in the market.
Informing that there are as many as 1,250 cases of Black Fungus in the state, he said Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda held talks with more than eight companies for Black fungus medicine.
"About 80,000 vials are in the market. The state has received 8-10 thousand vials so far. There were 1,250 cases of black fungus in the state. 30-35 deaths took place due to the infection. The medicines are being distributed to Black Fungus infected persons who were admitted to either a government hospital or a private hospital," Sudhakar said.
He added, "The positivity rate was up to 47 per cent but now has dropped to 14 to 15 per cent in the last 15 days. It is 8-9 per cent in many states. Taking all this into consideration, the Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will take the next decision with the advice of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)."
( With inputs from ANI )
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