Mayor Sunanda Palanetra on Monday urged the people of Mysuru to get their booster doses administered ahead of the start of Dasara as the festivities are expected to attract people from different parts of the country and abroad and protection against COVID-19 was crucial.
Speaking after inaugurating a camp for administering booster doses to journalists organised jointly by the district administration, Department of Health and Family Welfare and Mysuru District Journalists’ Association (MDJA) here, she said the pandemic was under control with sharp drop in cases and the government was making efforts to keep the disease under complete control through booster doses to the eligible populations.
For the next 75 days, free doses are being administered and the eligible persons must make use of the facility, she advised.
Deputy Commissioner Bagadi Gautham said tourists throng Mysuru city during Dasara and added that the people must take booster doses to stay protected and control the spread of the pandemic.
DHO K.H. Prasad said free doses are being administered to those above 18 years of age and nearly 30 per cent of the senior citizens have taken the booster doses so far. Vaccine protection, especially among the elderly persons, was critical and therefore he urged them to take the precautionary doses without fail.
Stating that 100% first dose vaccine coverage was done among the children in the 12-14 age group, he said 60 per cent progress has been achieved for the second dose. The population of the 12-14 age group was 90,000.
He said 24.9 lakh people above 18 years of age have received both doses of vaccine in the district. “We have set the target of administering the populations with booster doses ahead of Dasara,” he said.
The authorities have laid emphasis on the booster doses ahead of Dasara for controlling the spread of the disease since the city is expected to attract a large turnout of visitors with the celebrations set to be grander this year after two years of low-key festivities in view of COVID-19.
