Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao speaks to PM on vaccine and Remdesivir shortage, says no to lockdown

HYDERABAD: Following a severe shortage of vaccines, Remdesivir injections and oxygen for treating Covid-19 patients in the state, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately increase the allocations to Telangana. The CM also ruled out imposing lockdown in the state.
The chief minister, who spoke to the PM over phone on Thursday evening, said the state had received only 50 lakh doses of vaccines and needs two lakh to 2.5 lakh vaccines every day. He said the state was getting only 4,900 Remdesivir vials a day, while the requirement is at least 25,000 vials a day and urged him to provide the injections immediately.
He said only 440 MTs of oxygen was being supplied to the state, which should be increased to 500 MTs. He also brought to the notice of the PM that oxygen supplies allocated from Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu and Ballari in Karnataka were not transported to Telangana. “People from neighbouring states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and AP are coming down to Hyderabad for coronavirus treatment and this is putting additional burden on Telangana’s resources,” KCR told the PM.
Later, following the directions of the PM, Union minister Piyush Goyal spoke to KCR and assured that the Centre would take steps to supply vaccines and medicines to Telangana. Goyal said apart from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, oxygen supplies from north-eastern states would be sent to Telangana.
The CM, who held a review meeting with senior health officials, reiterated that the state government had no intention to impose lockdown in the state as it would not only destroy the livelihoods of people but also slow down the economy and hit the revenues badly. KCR said the lockdown will leave a severe impact on migrant workers, farming sector, industries and livelihood of the people. “Instead of imposing a lockdown, micro-level containment zones will be declared where the number of positive cases is more and preventive steps will be taken,” he said.
The officials told the CM that of the 1.56 lakh positive cases in government and private hospitals, 1.30 lakh (85 per cent) had recovered from the infection. KCR directed the health officials to hold a press conference every day and inform the people about the Covid-19 situation in the state. Since there is a shortage of vaccines in the state, he instructed the health department to give priority to administer second doses. He also spoke with manufacturers of Remdesivir .
Since the state government has decided to provide medicine kits to people testing positive for Covid-19 with mild symptoms, the CM said the kits should be provided at the doorsteps of the patients by Asha workers and ANMs.
He said various reports have suggested that the second wave severity could come down after May 15. “People will have to wear masks, maintain social distancing and avoid social gatherings,” he said