Gujarat suspends COVID-19 vaccination drive on Raksha Bandhan

Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said in a statement that the step to suspend vaccination drive is taken so the women health workers involved in the inoculation drive can celebrate Raksha Bandhan with their families.

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New Delhi: The Gujarat government has decided to suspend the COVID-19 vaccination drive on Sunday (August 22) on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. Raksha Bandhan is celebrated by Hindus, in which women tie rakhi on the wrists of their brothers. 

Announcing the decision on Friday (August 20), Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who also holds the health portfolio, said in a statement that the step is taken so the women health workers involved in the inoculation drive can celebrate Raksha Bandhan with their families, PTI reported. 

Around 4.19 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to the eligible population till Thursday, out of which 3.77 lakh jabs were given on Thursday, as per official data. 

Gujarat reported 19 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, pushing the caseload to 8,25,255. With no fresh death, the death toll stood at 10,078, the Health Department said. Gujarat's coronavirus recovery rate is 98.76 per cent, the statement added. 

Meanwhile, amid threat of a third wave of coronavirus, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said that COVID-19 vaccines for children will likely be launched in India "very soon".

"The Indian government has already given permission to Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech to conduct research for developing a COVID-19 vaccine for children. We are expecting that results of their research will arrive next month. I am confident that vaccines for children would become a reality very soon," Mandaviya told reporters in Rajkot. 

Earlier, the Centre had informed the Supreme Court that the vaccine developed by Zydus Cadila will be launched for children aged 12 and above, subject to statutory permissions.

Also, stressing on the need for vaccination in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian SARS-CoV2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) has said in its statement that COVID-19 vaccinations are ‘very effective’ in reducing severe disease and death. 

(With agency inputs)