Minister for Health and Medical Education K. Sudhakar on Friday said that the situation has not reached a stage which makes face masks compulsory and impose penalty for flouting the mask rule in the State. He, however, said there shouldn’t be negligence about COVID-19 and the guard against the pandemic must go on.
Speaking to reporters here, he said vaccination is necessary for averting the fourth wave of the pandemic. It is necessary to keep the masks on in crowded places, gatherings and events to avoid contracting the disease. Cases are rising in North India and New Delhi. Therefore, all of us must follow the COVID safety guidelines.
The Minister said the Centre was preparing to launch vaccination for children aged between 5 and 12 years and an announcement in this regard will be made soon.
He said that the third wave in India was less severe and the deaths due to COVID-19 was less. In countries where vaccination was not successful, new strains of the virus are being detected. The reason why the third wave was less severe in India was vaccination as 185 crore doses of vaccine in the country and 10.5 lakh doses of vaccine in the State had been administered, the Minister informed.
