Bhubaneswar: Those vaccinated against Covid-19 will show defence against Omicron, the new mutated variant of the virus, Director of Health and Family Welfare, Bijay Panigrahi said Tuesday.
“Though vaccines may not be able to give 100 per cent protection against Omicron, it will reduce the severity of the infection. Chances of hospitalisation and death will also decrease greatly,” informed Dr Panigrahi.
The Health Department has urged everyone in the state to get vaccinated as quickly as possible. The department has also urged social workers to encourage people to get the jabs.
“The number of Omicron cases is increasing in other states and there are chances that some people of Odisha will be infected by the new variant sooner or later. Under these circumstances, the unvaccinated will infect others. Hence, people should be more careful and get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible,” pointed out Dr Panigrahi.
The Health Department has engaged task forces in all of the state’s districts to monitor the ongoing vaccination drive. The Chief District Medical Officers (CDMOs) have also been directed to identify unvaccinated individuals in different villages.
So far 4.62 crore doses of vaccines have been administered to the people of Odisha so far. On the other hand, around 40 lakh people are yet to get the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.