NEWS

Private sector is an important partner in ramping up the outreach of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, even as it is taking time to pick up the pace, government officials said on Tuesday.

Emphasising that vaccines available in the system are being utilised completely, officials said the Centre as well as state governments are working with private hospitals to ensure increased accessibility and availability across the country. “States have been asked to motivate as well as facilitate private sector. Required hand-holding is being done to ensure private sector expands vaccination and so that the outreach is wider,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry.

Even as the fear of the third wave of Covid looms large, as many as 28 per cent of Indians are planning to travel during the August-September period, a new survey said. According to the survey by LocalCircles, 54 per cent of the respondents also plan to visit family and friends.

While daily Covid-19 cases in India have declined significantly in the last two months, experts have warned that with crowds thronging hill stations and poor adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour, the third wave is inevitable.

On being asked about their travel plans for August-September, 63 per cent of respondents said they don’t plan to travel, 5 per cent said they “have plans and have booked the tickets”, while 23 per cent said they “have plans to travel during these 2 months but have not booked tickets yet”. Nine per cent of the respondents said they are yet to decide.

Taking into account the submission of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights that over 75,000 kids who lost one or both parents during the pandemic are in need of care, the SC on Tuesday sought response from state governments on the steps taken to provide relief, including financial aid, to the kids.

The SC also said it would be the responsibility of DMs to ensure that there is no break in schooling of these kids and the governments have to bear their cost of education.

The Centre will be launching a 24x7 helpline for women affected by violence on Tuesday. To be based out of the National Commission for Women, the helpline to be manned by a dedicated team will provide round-the-clock emergency and non-emergency complaints and counselling services to women affected by violence by linking them with appropriate authorities such as police, hospitals, district legal service authorities and psychological support.

The trained staff manning the helpline (7827170170) will also provide information about women-related government schemes. The ministry of women and child development said “the helpline aims to facilitate integrated range of services for women affected with violence under one roof such as help from police, psycho-social counselling and access to One Stop Centres among other services”.