Punjab CM urges Centre to send fresh supplies of COVID-19 vaccine soon
With Punjab left with only 5 days of supply (5.7 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses) at the current levels of vaccinating 85000-90000 persons a day, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh urged the Centre to share the schedule for supply of vaccines with the States over the next quarter based on their confirmed supply orders.
Hoping that the Centre would send fresh batches of COVID-19 vaccine supply soon, Punjab CM said if the state is able to meet its target of 2 lakh vaccines a day, then its current supplies will last only 3 days. He said he had written to the Prime Minister and the Union Health Minister to give confirmed supply schedules.
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Despite being a slow-starter in vaccination, Punjab has vaccinated more than 16 lakh persons, at an average of around 85000-90000 per day.
This came during a video conference convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the Covid-19 situation. The meeting was attended by chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states, as well as senior party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi.
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Captain Amarinder Singh said people in Punjab were still not coming out in large numbers for the vaccination due to the massive anger prevailing against the Government of India on the issue of Farm Laws.
Since Punjab has majority population among the agriculture community, even the common man is affected by the farmers’ agitation, he said, adding that “this anger is impacting the vaccination drive.” He said his government is undertaking an extensive media campaign to address the misinformation regarding Covid-19 and vaccination hesitancy.
Ranking 18th in the country at present in terms of cases reported, Punjab is showing around 8 percent positivity, with an average of around 3000 cases per days for the past 15 days, the Chief Minister apprised Sonia.
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