Karnataka Health Minister Sudhakar asks people to be through with vaccination amid XE variant fear

Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Monday appealed to people to complete their vaccination doses amid the outbreak of new XE variant of COVID-19 in some foreign countries.

“Please ensure that all your vaccination doses are completed at the earliest,” Sudhakar said after a meeting with the COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).

Sudhakar said in a statement that there was an increase in XE variant COVID-19 cases in eight different countries, including China, Hong Kong, South Korea, United Kingdom and Germany.

“Additionally, he stated that there was an increase of XE cases in Delhi and Haryana,” the Minister said.

According to him, the TAC has suggested thermal-screening, strict surveillance and mandatory quarantine for a period of seven to 10 days for passengers arriving from the eight countries. “The government will soon release guidelines regarding this. Additionally, we urge people to wear masks, as the IIT-Kanpur has predicted another COIVD-19 wave around June and July,” Sudhakar said.

He stressed on the fact that many haven’t completed their second dose. “As many as 4.77 crore forming around 98 per cent of people under the 60+ category have taken the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Karnataka and only 49 per cent have taken the precautionary dose. Already, there is a decline in immunity in this age group. I urge everyone to complete all doses,” the minister appealed.

He pointed out that some people had blamed the government for the COVID-19 wave and shortage of vaccine in the past. ”Now, there is an adequate supply and we have made several requests to people to take the vaccine. People should take the vaccine and cooperate with the government,” he said.

He said that among the 15-17 age group, 25.11 lakh people out of 30 lakh had taken the vaccine amounting to 79 per cent and only 65 per cent had taken the second dose. Among the 12-14 age group, only 13.96 lakh children have received the vaccine out of 20 lakh amounting to 69 per cent. He urged parents to have their children vaccinated.

As there are no vaccines for young kids, Sudhakar said 5,000 children would be tested across the State as per the recommendation of the TAC.

Regarding the hospitals overcharging, the Minister said the government would not tolerate this.

“A high-level meeting has been held and a committee formed to check overcharging. The capped prices for CT scans, MRI etc must be considered as the new prices for future and not just for COVID-19. All officers have been given instructions in this regard. Labs should not charge higher cost than the cap fixed by the government. If this rule is violated, the government has the right to revoke the licence of the lab or hospital,” he said.