Pramod Sawant’s mission: Vaccinate entire 18-44 group by July 30

PANAJI: At a time when Goa’s vaccination drive has struggled to gather steam, chief minister Pramod Sawant has set himself an ambitious target of making the state the first to inoculate everyone in the 18 to 44 years age group by July end.
Vaccinating those between 18 to 44 years will cover 30% of the state’s population and could keep mortalities low during the third wave of Covid-19, Sawant said on Friday.
The response to the Tika Utsav has been less than encouraging with just 1,300 persons getting the jab on Thursday, Sawant said on the sidelines of a function.
“I want Goa to be the first state in the country to complete 100% vaccination for the people above 18 years,” Sawant told reporters.
The CM said that eligible citizens should come forward and get themselves inoculated. While the state’s population is projected at 15.4 lakh, the directorate of health services and private hospitals have administered 5,43,701 vaccine doses as on June 3.
The opposition has urged the state government to liberalise the vaccination drive and to involve local elected representatives to get maximum participation.
While Sawant’s move is to ensure that those likely to be vulnerable to the third wave are completely vaccinated by July 30, it appears as if the state has not taken into account that there is a three to four month gap recommended by the Centre between the first dose and the second dose. Thus, even a person who received the first jab in May will not be able to take the second dose before July 30.
The Union health ministry’s Covid-19 working group chaired by N K Arora recommended increasing the interval between two doses of Covishield vaccine to 12-16 weeks, while suggesting no change in interval of Covaxin vaccine doses. The recommendation has been implemented.
Goa has prioritised phase-wise vaccination for parents with young children, differently abled, seafarers, operators of motorcycle taxis, taxis and rickshaws, the chief minister said.
“We had opened up vaccination for parents of children below two years of age and also for those with co-morbid conditions on Thursday. I had taken a review and found that only 1,300 people had gotten themselves vaccinated under this category,” he said.
Sawant said that the state government has now widened the scope for vaccination under priority groups, covering parents of children till the age of five.
He said that even those who have received both the doses of the vaccine should continue wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing.