Centre should allow vaccination of children in 12-15 age group: Maha health minister Rajesh Tope

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said the state has congratulated the Centre for starting the COVID19 vaccination of children in the 1518 age group but at the same time also requested it to allow those in the 1215 age bracket to get inoculatedTalking to reporters in Jalna after the commencement of the vaccination drive for the 1518 age group Tope said the central government should also rethink on the testing policy for those arriving from foreign countriesThe Omicron variant has reached every country and there remains no issue now of highrisk and lowrisk countries The central government should guide over this issue as this policy is framed by it the minister saidThe minister also sought from the Centre a standard protocol for curbs to check the spread of COVID19We have congratulated the central government for starting the vaccination of 1518 age group But at the same time we have placed some demands to tackle the virus spread We have urged the central government to also undertake the vaccination of children in the 12 to 15 age group the minister saidWe also need 40 lakh doses of Covishield and 50 lakh doses of Covaxin to give booster shots to those working in the essential and healthcare sectors and those above 60 years of age who have comorbidities he saidTope also said that monoclonal antibodies needed to treat some COVID19 patients are expensive So the central government should intervene and see the costs of these medicines are brought down and they are available in sufficient numbersAnother important antiviral drug Molnupiravir should also be made available in sufficient quantity as its demand will be high like Remdesivir The central government has also told us that 13 companies are instructed to produce Molnupiravir he saidThe testing kits used to differentiate between Omicron and Delta infections should also be made available at affordable prices so that this testing is not costly he saidTope also demanded a standard protocol for restrictions to stem the spread of COVID19The definition of lockdown is different in different states We have set a criteria of 40 per cent bed occupancy and 700 metric ton of oxygen consumption for the lockdown I have come to know that a lockdown has started in Haryana and there are strict restrictions in Delhi We have requested that a standard protocol of restrictions be issued by the central government he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever