Udupi: Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha insisted on administering two vaccine doses to all senior citizens in the district.

Speaking at district-level Covid-19 experts’ committee meeting, the DC said people aged above 60 should be tracked and vaccine should be administered to them, if they hadn’t taken the jab.

The people who are waiting for the second dose in the same age group should be assisted to their nearest vaccination centre. Special vaccination camps should be held in rural areas. All people under the age group should be given vaccination, he added.

The target in above 45 years category is 4,13,861, of which first jab is administered to 3,32,255 people reaching 80% of the set target. 41% of the populace in the said age group have been given second dose of vaccination. He said programmes to reach 100% target should be designed.

Private hospitals should test the people for Covid-19 if they show symptoms like cold, fever and cough. The number of tests carried out in the district has increased and the results should be made available in 24 hours. Laboratories in the neighbouring districts can be considered for assistance. He ordered for the completion of the proposed oxygen plants at the earliest.

The work on building the children wards should be hastened and required equipment should be put in place. The 100-meter area in urban region should be considered for testing if a person is infected, while it is 200 metres in rural areas.

As the district is relatively near to Kerala and hence there are travellers between two places. Consequently, the number of cases has increased, he said.

The students, who come from outside the state, should mandatorily undergo seven-day quarantine and will be subjected to Covid-19 tests.

ZP Deputy Secretary Kiran Fadnekar, District Surgeon Dr Madhusudan Nayak, DHO Dr Nagabhushan Udupa and others were present.