Withthe state running out of Covishield vaccines today and a Covaxin stock of just112821 doses, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has reiterated thedemand for supply of more vaccines by the Centre to vaccinate the entire 18-45population to complete the vaccination of all eligible persons in the next twomonths.
Evenas he ordered opening of the vaccination to the entire population in 18-45 agegroup, subject to availability, the Chief Minister said the efforts wouldremain focused on covering the categories prioritised earlier. His governmenthad set a target to immunise all eligible in two months, followed by the secondvaccine dose as per schedule, he added. Currently, 4.8% of Punjab’s eligible population is fullyvaccinated, with Mohali leading the chart in both one and two doses.
Takingstock of the vaccination progress and status in Punjab at a Covid reviewvirtual meeting, the Chief Minister noted that the state government had alreadyvaccinated more than 62 lakh eligible persons and had been utilising the stockwithout any wastage. However, he noted, that there is a gross shortage ofvaccines, with no stock of Covishield in the state as of today, and only asmall stock of Covaxin available.
Pointingout that the state had been repeatedly taking up the issue of inadequate doseswith Government of India, Captain Amarinder said this has assumed criticalimportance as Punjab has slowly been opening up sectors conditional tostakeholders having taken at least one dose. He said he will take up the matter again with the Union Health Ministeron urgent basis, and escalate it to the Prime Minister if needed.
HealthMinister Balbir Sidhu questioned the larger number of doses received from theCentre by BJP-ruled states like Haryana and Gujarat.
Citinga Punjab Police study showing 98% protection among police personnel after twodoses of vaccination, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday askedthe Health and Medical Education departments to continue monitoring the vaccineefficacy in the light of the new variants of concern. So far, around 79000 Punjab Police personnel had beenvaccinated, of which 57% had received the second dose. The study, conducted byDr Rajesh Kumar, between February 3 to June 28, showed that of the total deathsin this period, 15 were of those not vaccinated at all, nine of those who hadreceived one dose, and only two who were fully vaccinated, disclosed DGP DinkarGupta.
TheChief Minister also directed the concerned departments to drive a campaign toencourage vaccination, testing and help in case of micro-containment zones.These should be activated in all urban and rural areas, he stressed.