Team Herald
PANJIM: Encouraging the public to participate in the ongoing vaccination programme on Thursday, the Dean of Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) Dr Shivanand Bandekar said it can help create a safer scenario for all Goans.
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“Now people are getting vaccines and after they receive two doses, their immunity will also increase. So there will be herd immunity. I see a good future with the vaccination programme,” said Dr Bandekar while speaking to media.
He also played down fears of rise in numbers and said that the health department has increased testing and that more and more people are getting themselves tested as well.
“During the initial phase, we would do contact tracing (of COVID positive patients). Now, we have cases where if one person has got COVID, then a lot of people who had come in contact with this person have come forward themselves as opposed to having to call them. We recently had a case like where after one person tested positive, the full family came forward and they too were found to be positive,” said Dr Bandekar.
He however stressed that people should adhere to what he described as ‘Covid appropriate behaviour’ such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing etc.
“We have to observe the minimum requirements of social behaviour in this regard as this can save everything and stop the spread of COVID,” said Dr Bandekar.
When asked if there should be more restrictions, Dr Bandekar said as per the ‘Unlock 5’, restrictions as such can’t be kept and that it’s time for people to learn to live with COVID.
