Bhubaneswar, Aug 28 (PTI) The Odisha government on Saturday asked authorities of 12 districts to extend support to the city-based Regional Medical Research Centre of ICMR, which will commence a state-level serological survey from August 29.

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RMRC Bhubaneswar of the Indian Council of Medical Research will conduct the exercise in Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Khurda, Puri, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Kalahandi and Nabarangpur, an official said.

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“The serological survey will be conducted to assess the age-specific prevalence of SARC-CoV-2 antibodies among common people and healthcare workers in the state,” Health and Family Welfare Department's Additional Chief Secretary PK Mohapatra said.

The district administrations have been directed to provide accommodation to members of the RMRC teams and facilitate collection of blood samples as per the requirement, he said.

Each of the 12 district authorities was asked to nominate a nodal officer for the exercise, Mohapatra said.

The outcome of the serological survey will be useful for COVID-19 management and vaccination strategy, Mohapatra said, adding that the exercise will be conducted till September 15.

With the Centre doubling COVID-19 vaccine supply to the state from September, the Odisha government has set an ambitious target to administer 3.5 lakh doses per day.

Mohapatra asked all district collectors, municipal commissioners and public health officers to prepare plans to accelerate the inoculation process and meet the target.

He also directed them to prioritise the inoculation drive for teachers and non-teaching staff of government and private schools and pregnant women.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)