Second wave not over, need more vaccines, Kerala CM Pinrayi Vijayan tells PM Narendra Modi

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief minister Pinrayi Vijayan has urged the Centre to provide more vaccine doses to the state as people who are due for the second dose in July are 25 lakh. In a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vijayan said the state urgently needs 60 lakh vaccines doses to provide the first dose to those above 18 years. He said since the state is yet to come out of the second wave, there is an urgent need for vaccine doses.
He said the state witnessed the spread of the dangerous delta virus during its second wave, and even mutation of this virus has been reported here. The state had witnessed a test positivity rate as high as 30%, which has been brought down to 10.4%. It has to be noted that the second wave had hit last Kerala in the country. But still, we could bring down the TPR to 10%, Vijayan said. The state has succeeded in bringing down cases and preventing the virus from spreading when compared to the second wave that hit other states. The state could achieve this with an increase in testing and by contact tracing. The timely isolation of the positive patients also helped in preventing the spread.

Till date, the state could provide first dose vaccination to 1.17 crore people and 44.18 lakh people the second dose vaccination. The state is also giving priority to the bedridden patients, people in old-age homes, transgenders, etc. The state has also created a record of maintaining zero wastage in vaccination, he said. Hence the Centre should provide more doses to vaccinate those above 18 years at the earliest. Now, there are reports about the third wave. Hence the state wants to achieve as many vaccinations before that for which we need the Centre's support, Vijayan told Modi.