Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday stressed the power of self-awareness and self-discipline to fight Omicron, the latest variant of the coronavirus, while addressing the 84th episode of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat.
"We must remember that a new variant of Covid-19 Omicron has knocked on our doors. To defeat this global pandemic our effort as citizens is important," PM Modi said in the last edition of the monthly radio programme of this year.
He said scientists in the country are constantly studying the new Omicron variant. “Every day they are getting new data, their suggestions are being worked on,” he said.
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“In such a case, self-awareness and self-discipline are the powers the country has against this variant of Corona. Only our collective strength will defeat Corona and it is with this sense of responsibility that we have to enter 2022,” he added.
The Prime Minister’s comments came as 422 cases of the Omicron variant were reported in India on Sunday and 6,987 more people tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), pushing the country’s tally to 34,786,802.
{{/usCountry}}The Prime Minister’s comments came as 422 cases of the Omicron variant were reported in India on Sunday and 6,987 more people tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), pushing the country’s tally to 34,786,802.
{{/usCountry}}His comments also came a day after he announced children of ages 15 and above will be vaccinated against Covid-19 from January 3 and “precaution doses” to health care and frontline workers and people above the age of 60 with certain health conditions will be given from January 10.
PM Modi also talked about India's vaccination drive under which he said are more and more people are being inoculated against Covid-19 and “this shows the innovative zeal of our scientists and the trust of our people.”
He said India achieved an unprecedented feat if its vaccination data is compared with those from across the world.
“Crossing the 140 crore dose of vaccine milestone is the achievement of every Indian. This shows that every Indian has trust in the system, faith in science, trust in scientists and fulfilling our obligations to society. It is also a testament to the will of us Indians,” he said.
The first episode of the programme was broadcast on October 3, 2014.
In his last episode of Mann Ki Baat, which was broadcast on November 28, the Prime Minister lauded the armed forces for the completion of 50 years of India's victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war.