Vaccination is the only effective way to fight and end the pandemic: Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh

May 20, 2021

BHOPAL, 20 May 2021: Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh today urged the industry to come forward in vaccinating the citizens. He also assured that with the efforts taken by the state government during the second wave, Madhya Pradesh will come out of the crisis by month end.

Addressing the interactive session on 'Vaccination Plan of Industry in MP', organized by FICCI, jointly with other Chambers, the Chief Minister said, "In Madhya Pradesh, the vaccination drive is getting converted into a mass movement. We have already vaccinated around 1 crore citizens and we are working to get the balance vaccinated."

"The government alone cannot fight this pandemic. With the people's participation in Madhya Pradesh, Corona is under control as the positivity rate is declining on daily basis and recovery rate is improving. The way in which we implemented the janta curfew in the state, we are hopeful that by 31^st May we will be able to control the situation totally," Mr Chouhan added.

He further stressed on the need to increase the availability of the vaccines in the state. "We will do all efforts to get whatever vaccines are required to be sourced from abroad. The private sector must come forward to source as many vaccines they can procure and help the government's vaccination drive," he added.

The Chief Minister also urged the industry to support the state government's efforts to fight the pandemic and private sector should not only ensure vaccinating their employees but also their dependents and family members. He also assured the industry of full support from the state government in simplifying the vaccination registration process and creating a taskforce related to COVID.

Mr Chouhan also said that the state developed a crisis management committee which is supported by the government. They advised on the various steps to be taken to mitigate the impact of the crisis.

Dr Sangita Reddy, Immediate Past President, FICCI said that a parallel strategy of strengthening health infrastructure while at the same time increasing the vaccination drive is one of the most important needs of the hour. "It is very important to find methods to source beyond the current supplies of vaccine. We would be happy to have direct dialogue with government on how we can jointly source the vaccines," she added.

Mr Dinesh Patidar, Chairman, FICCI Madhya Pradesh State Council and MD, Shakti Pumps Ltd while applauding the government's efforts to mitigate the crisis said that the industry is willing to come forward and vaccinate their employees and family.

Mr Madhusudan Gopalan, Chairman, FICCI FMCG Committee & CEO, P&G India said that we are looking at vaccinating and supporting the vaccination of others beyond our own employees.

Mr Manish Gulati, Member, FICCI & COO, HEG Ltd said that vaccine sourcing is a major challenge, and we need to look at global sourcing for this.