Punjab Earmarks Rs 331 Crore For Sero Survey Focused On Children

Amarinder Singh announced that storage tanks for liquid medical oxygen will be set up in every district of Punjab to ensure 24X7 availability.

Amid apprehensions that a third wave of Covid infections may severely affect children, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today announced an allocation of Rs 331 crore for a sero survey focused on the 6-17 years age group. The allocation for the third sentinel sero-surveillance survey is in addition to the money allocated earlier for emergency Covid response, a government release said. The Chief Minister said outcomes of the sero survey will be utilised to determine further localised restrictions as the state prepares for the third wave. He added that Geographic Information System-based surveillance and prevention tools will be used with an auto trigger mechanism for implementing local curbs, he disclosed. Several experts have argued that there is no evidence so far that a third wave will exclusively or severely target children. However, since this is a population group in which vaccination is yet to begin in the country, there is some fear that children may be more vulnerable to a third wave.