Goa aims to vaccinate all 72,000 children in 15-18 age group with first dose in next 4 days: Minister Vishwajit Rane

The Goa government is aiming to inoculate all 72,000 children in the 15-18 age group against COVID-19 with the first dose in the next four days after vaccination opens for them on Monday, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Sunday.

Rane attended a meeting of Health Ministers of states chaired by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

He said Mandaviya reviewed preparations for rolling out the vaccination drive. ''Goa has already received 72,000 doses to vaccinate the children between the age group of 15 to 18 years, which would be administered within 3-4 days from January 3 onwards,'' Rane told reporters. He said teams of medical professionals will visit schools if needed.

Rane said the Goa government was taking all measures as per protocols to flatten the COVID-19 curve. Responding to a query, the health minister said a cruise ship with 2,000 passengers on board was not allowed to dock at Goa port on Sunday. Operators of this cruise ship have been asked to conduct COVID-19 tests on all the passengers through the Vasco-based Salgaonkar Medical Research Centre (SMRC) Hospital before allowing them to alight.

Rane also said Goa will set up a genome sequencing machine in the next 15 days to avoid delay in the testing of suspected Omicron variant samples, which are currently sent to the Pune-based NIV. He said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant will hold a meeting of Task Force on Monday in which certain measures are likely to be announced to curb the spread of coronavirus infections.