Thiruvananthapuram: As the world is wary of new Covid variant Omicron, a high-level meeting, chaired by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Tuesday (November 30) decided to ramp up the Covid protocols and also decided that those who do not take vaccines will not get free treatment anymore. The meeting also decided not to relax rules as the film industry was demanding to see that theatres are allowed 100 per cent seating from the present 50 per cent.
According to the latest figures, 96 per cent of the above 18 age population in the state have taken the first Covid vaccine dose, and 63 per cent have taken both the vaccines. Around 1.4 million people have missed the date for taking the second vaccine and all such people must ensure they take the second dose at the earliest, the government said.
In a statement after the meeting, Vijayan said that all those who do not take vaccines will not get free Covid treatment at government hospitals. "If there are people who have allergy and other issues for not taking a vaccine, such people will have to submit a medical certificate to that effect from a government doctor. And those government employees who do not come with such a medical certificate, will have to come with a RT-PCR test result every week," he said.
The meeting also decided to speed up giving the second dose of vaccine and Vijayan asked the officials to see that by December 15, the maximum number of people should be given the second dose and asked the local bodies and the Health Department to see this takes place without fail.
The Kerala unit of the Indian Medical Association had earlier warned that the Omicron variant should be seen as a possible third wave and everyone should be cautious of it and ensure that all the accepted norms of sanitisers, masks and social distancing should be strictly adhered to ward off trouble.
