With Omicron tally reaching 236 across 16 states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged people to be “satark aur savdhan” (cautious and vigilant) while the Health Ministry directed the states going in for elections to exponentially ramp up vaccination.

Chairing a high-level review meeting, the PM said the pandemic was not over. He said the government was alert to the evolving situation and asked states to focus on prompt and effective measures to contain the spread. The meeting ended with the decision that the Centre will send teams to states with low vaccination, rising cases and insufficient health infrastructure to assist them. In a meeting with state counterparts, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan advised against lowering the guard. “Ensure 100% coverage of left-out eligible beneficiaries, lay special focus on districts with lower than national coverage and scale up door-to-door vaccination,” the ministry said, noting that pockets with low vaccination coverage and those with low Covid exposure might be more vulnerable to the new variant.