Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said the policy of the government is not to make everyone sick and acquire social (collective) immunity, but to prevent the disease from reaching as many people as possible and prevent deaths as much as possible until the vaccine is available.
Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, Pinarayi said, "From the very beginning, our state has adopted a policy of protecting as many people as possible from disease. Our policy is not to make everyone sick and acquire social (collective) immunity, but to prevent the disease from reaching as many people as possible and prevent deaths as much as possible until the vaccine is available."
"ICMR studies show that Kerala is a better reporting state than most other states. An example is Madhya Pradesh. According to the Excess Death Analysis conducted in May this year, there were an estimated 1,33,000 more deaths in Madhya Pradesh than in May 2019. But only 2461 deaths were reported. The death toll there is 54 times higher than reported. Such problems do not exist in our state," he added.
Chief Minister said that about 90 per cent of the total patients are being treated free of cost in government hospitals.
"The government has also controlled the cost of treatment in other private hospitals. The government and the private sector are trying to deal with covid with full cooperation," said Vijayan.
"Forty-three percent of people over the age of 18 have already been vaccinated with a single dose. The second dose was given to 12 percent of people," he added.
According to Vijayan, Kerala is the fastest-growing state for vaccination.
"Strong measures will continue until vaccination is completed. In the state, 43 per cent (1,14,54,325) over the age of 18 (as of yesterday) were given the first dose of the vaccine. 16.49% (39,58,115) were vaccinated with the second dose," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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