Think of booster dose only when full vaccination target is achieved: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said a booster dose against Covid19 comes into picture only when the eligible population is fully vaccinated against the viral infection and that is the current priority for the state governmentHowever a decision on administering the booster dose to further enforce immunity against the infection has to be taken by the Centre he saidPawar was talking to reporters after a weekly review meeting on the Covid19 situation in Pune district of which he is the guardian ministerSpeaking about the booster dose Pawar said doctors from the task force have suggested that the district administration should first ensure that both the doses of Covid19 vaccines are administered to the eligible populationPune district has achieved 100 per cent administration of the first dose of anticoronavirus vaccinesIt has been proved that those who have taken both the doses are less impacted by the virus There are cases in some areas where booster doses have been administered such people experienced mild effects when they got infected the minister saidPawar however said a decision regarding an additional vaccine dose has to be taken at the Centres levelAlso read People who skipped second dose of Covid19 vaccine could face restrictions Ajit PawarThe Prime Minister and the Centre decided to give two doses of vaccines If any decision to administer a third booster dose is taken according to my knowledge the Serum Institute of India has the availability of doses According to a recent statement from the company they have reduced the production of the vaccine due to a drop in demand he saidThe Punebased Serum Institute of India manufactures Covishield the mainstay of Indias Covid19 vaccination programmeHe however said the governments thrust is to achieve 100 per cent vaccination as far as the second dose is concernedOnce both the doses are done 100 per cent we can think about a booster dose and also vaccination for the 12 to 18 age group if the Centres health department gives permission said PawarAsked about taking strict stand against those still showing vaccine hesitancy Pawar said in one district Aurangabad the respective collector took some strict measures like no vaccine no fuel and ration as they were lagging in inoculation rateAfter that decision the number of people taking the doses went up As a government our job is to convince people but people should also respond positively But there are people who neither think about their own life nor about others he saidIf we do not get a positive response from people on the vaccination front we may think of taking some strict stand Pawar saidPawar said to increase the pace of vaccination instructions have been issued to hold special camps and deploy mobile vans to reach out to peopleThis 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