Chandigarh: Punjab gets 3.29 lakh doses for phase III drive launch

CHANDIGARH: Punjab is all set to immunise people in the age group of 18-44 years as it is expected to get the 3.29 lakh vaccine doses shortly. The information was shared by principal secretary health and family welfare Hussan Lal during a Covid review meeting chaired chief secretary Vini Mahajan.
To ramp up the health facilities in its fight against the virus, the Punjab government has provided districts another 809 ventilators. Mahajan directed all the deputy commissioners to install the new ventilators and ensure that not a single oxygen concentrator and ventilator remain unused. She also ordered work from home for private offices so that the chain of Covid transmission can be arrested.
Addressing administrative secretaries, deputy commissioners, commissioners of police, senior superintendents of police and civil surgeons through video conferencing, the chief secretary directed all departments concerned to increase the number of Level-2 and Level-3 beds to provide the best possible care to Covid patients as 14 of the total 22 districts have been showing above 10% positivity rate. She reiterated that the work to set up two makeshift hospitals equipped with ICU facilities exclusively for Covid patients in Mohali and Bathinda has been expedited and that they will be made functional by the end of this month.
Urging private hospitals for more active participation in the fight against the pandemic, the chief secretary ordered DCs to extend every possible support to increase bed capacity in such facilities. “Strict enforcement of restrictions should be ensured in true spirit to save lives,” she emphasised.
Taking note of patients from Delhi and NCR heading towards Punjab for treatment, Mahajan said they should also be treated equally in the state. Stating that Punjab was coordinating with the Union government to get additional medical oxygen supplies from Bokaro and other parts of the country besides enhancing its own production, Mahajan asked the departments of industries and medical education and research to further ramp up production to ensure seamless and hassle-free medical oxygen supplies to the state’s medical colleges and hospitals. “No holding back of empty oxygen cylinders should be allowed at any cost,” she asserted.