Second Dose Vaccination Drive Started In Telangana

After Telangana's Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivas Rao announced that the government had taken the decision to stop administering the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine till May 15 as it was more urgent to administer the vaccine to the people who were awaiting the second dose of the same, the vaccination drive for those awaiting the second dose was today started across all the hospitals and health centres of the state.

However, the people wanting to get vaccinated had to wait in long queues at the hospitals and health centres

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar today inspected the Golconda Hospital with officials and informed the public that the second dose could be taken between May 10 and 12.

During the inspection, he interacted with Covid-19 patients to ask about the health services and treatment facilities available to them.

Taking about the treatment facilities afterwards, Kumar said that 129 more beds would be procured by the hospital in the next 15 days.

He directed the health officials not to deny treatment and services to any Covid-19 patients or patients seeking medical treatment for other ailments.

"As per the directions of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, the health officials should coordinate to ensure that speedy and friendly treatment is made available to Covid-19 patients. We aim to break the chain of the spread of the virus. For this, the people of the state too must cooperate with us by following all the stipulated safety norms," the CS said.

In a release after the inspection, he said, "The public expressed their happiness for the good arrangements made for vaccination drive. They informed us that the maximum time wait time at the vaccination centres is about 15 minutes. They are able to return home in 40-45 minutes after the 30-minute observation period. The people who have taken their first dose can go to any government vaccination centre on May 10, 11, and 12 for the second dose of the vaccine."

The CS was accompanied by Secretary (Health) Syed Ali Murtuza Rizvi, DME Dr Ramesh Reddy, GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar, Zonal COmisioner Pravinya, TSIIC MD Narasimha Reddy, and TSMIDC MD K Chandrashekar Reddy.