IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao shared administrative decisions and also his personal experience in dealing with coronavirus in Telangana, and asked the people to rely on genuine medical assistance while strictly avoiding ‘WhatsApp Experts’.
Mr. Rama Rao, who went live on social media platform Twitter and interacted directly with people through “Let’s do an #AskKTR session exclusively on all COVID related issues”, explained various measures initiated by the government to tackle the pandemic. Reacting to wishes from the Twitterati on his well-being after his recovery from COVID-19, he asked people not to self-medicate, follow the advice of medical experts, stop watching negative news on TV channels and stop relying on WhatsApp expertise. Exercise and stay strong mentally was his advice.
The Minister was bombarded with questions on vaccination and shortage of medicines while some personally requested for the same. He agreed on the vaccine availability challenge, but said Telangana was doing better compared to national average. He also shared a chart which mentioned Telangana’s vaccination performance (per million population) at 1,41,939. On the improvement of medical infrastructure in Telangana, he said that the oxygen beds alone were 9,213 in September 2020 which have gone up to 20,739 in May 2021.
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On the oxygen cylinders and Remdesivir injections being sold at extremely high prices, he said the Central government had taken over oxygen distribution and the State government was doing an audit by private hospitals on consumption. He said doctors were under pressure from patients to use it and this demand has led to hoarding. However, the government has cracked down on the black-marketeers.
Vaccination slots
With regard to vaccination slots, the Minister said that so far in Telangana 45.37 lakh people have been vaccinated with first dose, out of the total 45-plus population of 92.24 lakh. Second dose has been given to more than 10.3 lakh people.
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“Ideally 70% population being vaccinated should break the chain. So out of the 2.9 crore adult population in Telangana we need to vaccinate 1.9 crore people. Since it’s a two-dose vaccine, we need 3.8 crore doses,” he said.
On procuring vaccine at State level, the Minister reminded that the Central government has mandated that 85% of all production be handed over to it. From the remaining 15% all States and institutions have to compete. The government can’t procure from abroad as Drug Controller General of India has allowed for usage of only Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik in India. “Hopefully Pfizer and Moderna will be allowed.”