Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Monday exhorted all eligible people to get themselves vaccinated against Covid-19 without delay to gain the only available form of protection against the pandemic.
Felicitating sponsors and donors from various sectors for augmenting the medical facilities and establishment of a new Covid ward on the premises of the Government Chest Hospital here, he said, "The government on its own has limitations in adding health infrastructure beyond a point and a collective effort involving CSR initiatives can go a long way in doing social good."
To underscore the importance of vaccination, the Chief Minister recounted how he himself was reluctant initially to get a shot, but soon contracted the virus and had to be hospitalised. "I failed to take the two jabs. Later, I had to take several injections at the hospital," he said.
Mr. Rangasamy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was keen that people should adopt safety protocols and the Centre was helping ramp up requirements of the States to administer the vaccine. Puducherry was at present seeing a decline in the number of fresh cases of coronavirus and to a large extent this was possible because of adoption of Covid-appropriate behaviour by the public.
Lt. Governor of Puducherry and Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan who joined the ceremony virtually from Raj Bhavan in Telangana complimented the effort of as many as 16 organisations in volunteering to provide the facilities, particularly oxygen beds at the chest hospital.
"It has been found that 95% of the patients admitted for COVID-19 treatment in the ICU in government hospitals were those who had not got vaccinated," she said and added that this should be an eye-opener to those who have not got the jab yet.
A host of CII member firms, including Hindustan Unilver, EATON, Snam Alloys, Integra and Metalscope, Atithi, CCAL and Puducherry Heritage Round Table 167, have contributed to ramping up facilities, that included adding 160 oxygen beds at the IGMCRI.
V. Aroumugame and KSP Ramesh, MLAs, T. Arun, Health Secretary, Vikranth Raja, PWD Secretary, S. Mohan Kumar, Director of Health, S. Govindarajan, Medical Superintendent of the Chest Disease Hospital and Sathiyamoorthy, PWD Chief Engineer were among those who participated.