Make 2nd dose mandatory: Experts to CM

Kumaran P. | NT

Bengaluru, Dec. 23 Despite over 13 new Omicron cases reported in Karnataka, it’s business as usual in the city, with schools and colleges continuing to hold classes and examinations with minimal COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB).

All this, despite Karnataka’s medical experts now raising the red flag on the need for the second dose of vaccinations to be made compulsory for every citizen who has only taken the first dose of vaccine, as well as booster vaccines for frontline workers and medical staff as recommended to the Chief Minister by the Clinical Expert Committee.

A day after Punjab became the first state to make the second dose mandatory in government bodies, the medical fraternity in Karnataka has upped the ante regarding the vaccination with the clinical expert committee recommending to the Government of Karnataka to make the second dose of vaccination compulsory.

A member from the committee told News Trail: “We have brought this up many times in our meetings and have told the officials that the second dose of vaccination should be made mandatory and if not, people should be denied facilities that they can avail from the government.

This is not just a vaccine that can protect from the virus, it acts as a shield to lessen the chances of hospitalization when Omicron cases go up, which is bound to happen.”

As opposed to the government dragging its feet, many ordinary people and volunteer groups are stepping up and trying hard to vaccinate people but are facing hurdles. “A lot of time, the person who was given his first dose changes his mobile number which he gave at the time and cannot be tracked. We have been trying to track people by asking them to identify citizens but this exercise hasn’t really succeeded either,” said a volunteer.

Apart from the State government failing to make the second dose mandatory for citizens, the other lacunae is the state not clearing the third dose - the booster dose - for frontline workers. This too was recommended by the clinical expert committee last week, but the State government has not issued any guidelines on this externely important issue.

NT reported recently that the government will release the guidelines for frontline workers to take the third dose as a booster considering the rise in the number of Omicron cases in Karnataka. Sources said that the government is awaiting Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to issue the guidelines. The Chief Minister of Karnataka Basavaraja Bommai met his higher-ups in New Delhi before the Winter Assembly Session began in Karnataka. Dr C Nagaraja, director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Disease (RGICD) said, “The CM met the higherups in New Delhi and has requested for releasing the guidelines for booster dose. We are all waiting for it and it will soon be released. After this, every frontline worker can take the booster dose.”

Unfortunately, the government is still sitting on these two key issues which is the need of the hour, say experts. An expert said, “Making second doses mandatory is a must and we should aim at bringing such law and secondly, doctors need to be safeguarded. We have always seen that doctors undergo tremendous pressure and it is difficult for us to manage. The government should mandate these laws and not wait for any higherups.”