WithPunjab left with only five days of supply (5.7 lakh Covid vaccine doses) at thecurrent levels of vaccinating 85,000-90,000 persons a day, Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh has urged the Centre to share the schedule for supplyof vaccines with the states over the next quarter based on their confirmedsupply orders.
Hopingthat the Centre would send fresh batches of vaccine supply soon, the ChiefMinister said if the state is able to meet its target of 2 lakh vaccines a day,then its current supplies will last only three days.
Hesaid he had written to the Prime Minister and the Union Health Minister to giveconfirmed supply schedules.
Despitebeing a slow-starter in vaccination, Punjab has vaccinated more than 16 lakhpersons, at an average of around 85,000-90,000 per day, he said during a videoconference convened by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to discuss the Covidsituation.
Themeeting was attended by chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states, as wellas senior party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi.
CaptainAmarinder said people in Punjab were still not coming out in large numbers forthe vaccination due to the massive anger prevailing against the government ofIndia on the issue of farm laws.
SincePunjab has majority population among the agriculture community, even the commonman is affected by the farmers' agitation, he said, adding "this anger isimpacting the vaccination drive.a
Hesaid his government is undertaking an extensive media campaign to address themis-information regarding Covid and vaccination hesitancy.
Ranking18th in the country at present in terms of cases reported, Punjab is showingaround eight per cent positivity, with an average of around 3,000 cases perdays for the past 15 days, the Chief Minister apprised Gandhi.
Thenumber of cases is slightly stable, he pointed out, adding that "thisshows that the steps taken in the last three weeks are in the rightdirection".
Evenin the graphs put up by Health Ministry in Prime Minister's review meeting, the"curve appears to be flattened over the past fortnight," he said,disclosing that the state currently has around 27,200 active cases withrecovery rate of 87.1 per cent.
ThankingSonia Gandhi for giving the opportunity "to discuss and learn from eachother on Covid management", the Chief Minister, however, said deaths are aconcern for Punjab, with around 50-60 daily deaths with a little under two percent Case Fatality Rate (CFR) in the second surge.
Overall,CFR is 2.77 per cent for all reported cases since March 2020, he added.
Pointingout that on April 9, a total of 3,459 persons tested positive out of 41,347samples tested and 56 deaths were reported, he said the high death rate hasbeen on account of late reporting to hospitals, high co-morbidity(non-communicable diseases).
Also,Punjab has reported all its cases very faithfully, he added.
Notingthat high positivity is being seen in the younger population and as per reportsreceived from the NCDC and the IGIB, more than 80 per cent samples have beenfound to be positive for the more contagious and virulent UK variant, the ChiefMinister shared with the Congress President the various measures taken by hisgovernment to combat the spread.
These,he said, included complete ban on political gatherings till April 39,imposition of night curfew across all districts from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.,restrictions on numbers in outdoor and indoor social gatherings and in cinemahalls and malls, and closure of all educational institutions and anganwadicentres, with school exams being postponed.