CHANDIGARH: Against the backdrop of a worsening Covid-19 situation in Punjab, the central government has rapped Punjab on its poor inoculation coverage, especially of its health workers.
Punjab, in recent weeks, has been consistently featuring on two unwanted lists -- states with most cases and states with low vaccine coverage.
Punjab featured second on the list of six states that account for 81.65% of new cases reported on March 23. Maharashtra accounts for the highest daily new cases at 28,699 followed by Punjab with 2,254 new cases.
Situation in Punjab of grave concern, says health secretary
Punjab is also reporting a higher number of new cases in proportion to its population in comparison to other states. After vaccinating only 65.11% of health workers, Punjab is among the worst-performing states. As on March 23, the state health authorities had managed to provide the first dose of the vaccine to only 1.29 lakh health workers.
Terming the situation in Punjab of ‘grave concern’, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "The coverage of a well-defined group of health workers is very low, which is a serious matter. We have brought this matter to their notice and asked them to ensure more coverage." He also suggested that the Punjab government launch campaigns on the pattern of other states. Of the total, 38.48% of the doses have been administrated in private facilities.
Highlighting the importance of vaccine in the fight against the pandemic, Dr VK Paul of NITI Aayog said the pace of vaccination should be increases where cases are on the rise. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh has time and again expressed displeasure over low coverage. He had urged the people to get themselves vaccinated the previous day.
Punjab health officials said the vaccination drive is being conducted as per laid-down norms of the central government and has started to pick pace. The health department is planning to launch an aggressive campaign to encourage people to get jabbed. The Centre will hold a meeting with the officials of the worst-hit districts of the state in the coming days to formulate a strategy to control the spread by initiating corrective measures. Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mohali, Hoshiarpur and Patiala are the districts that account for about 59% of 16,627 cases reported last week.