Kerala to give at least one jab to all above 40 by July 15

The decision to prepare a strategy to fight a third wave of covid-19 was taken in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

To cushion the impact of an anticipated third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kerala government has planned to inoculate all people above the age of 40 years with at least one dose of the vaccine by July 15 and conduct genetic sequencing of breakthrough infections and infection in children, among other steps.

The decision to prepare a strategy to fight a third wave of covid-19 was taken in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Earlier, the revised budget of the state for the current fiscal had made proposals to improve infrastructure to equip the health sector to face a third wave.

Vijayan said that 50 lakh people in Kerala above the age of 45 are yet to get the first dose of the vaccine. It is expected that the state would get 38 lakh doses of the vaccine in this month. One crore doses have been administered so far in Kerala, but only 21.37 lakh people have got the second dose. The government plans to give a dose of vaccine to all those aged above 40 by July 15, the CM said.

In Kerala, presently vaccination for those in the age group of 18-44 is open only for those with comorbidities, staff of various service sector departments, students and job seekers going abroad.

As on June 4, only 3.15 per cent of the state’s population in the age group of 18-44 has got the first dose of vaccine. In the case of those above the age of forty-five, 56 per cent have got the first dose and 21 per cent second dose.

The Chief Minister said all departments with people’s participation should take up steps on a war footing to face the third wave. As part of steps to tackle the third wave of pandemic, genetic sequencing of breakthrough infections and infections in children should be done. Their results would be analysed every week.

On Saturday Kerala reported 17,328 new Covid cases. Although the number of active cases has been coming down, the test positivity rate (TRP) is still hovering at around 15 per cent for the last several days, with the TRP at 14.89 per cent on Saturday.

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