Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Fridayasked concerned officials to prepare to start vaccinating the priority groupsin the 18-45 years category from government hospitals from Monday, as the statewas expecting 1 lakh doses to come from the Serum Institute of India (SII) overthe weekend
The vaccination of priority groups identified by thestate government for Phase III should start as soon as the doses arrive, theChief Minister said. The state government has identified 18-45 age group constructionworkers, teachers, government employees, and those with co-morbidities ashigh-risk individuals for priority vaccination.
The Chief Minister, who was chairing a virtual Covid the review meeting, directed all government employees, except those with medicalproblems, to get vaccinated.
While the Labour Department will coordinate vaccinationof construction workers and their families, to be funded by BOCWWB, the DCshave been asked to coordinate vaccination of government employees. Vaccinationof comorbid categories will also be planned by DCs, with the only advanceregistration and slotting of vaccination site to be allowed.
The state government had ordered 30 lakh vaccine dosesfrom SII for the Phase III vaccination, and the Government of India has nowallocated 3.30 lakh against this order to Punjab for this month.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has directed the ChiefSecretary to explore the utilization of some component of the state’s World Bankloan for the purchase of 10000 Oxygen concentrators, along with tankers and O2plants as well as vaccines.
The Chief Minister expressed gratitude to the variousorganizations that were sending aid to the state to support its fight againstthe second deadly wave of the pandemic. He informed the meeting that besides theTATA Group, which was sending 500 Oxygen concentrators, an additional 200concentrators were being sent by the Tata Memorial Hospital also.