Punjab CM requests PM Modi to widen vaccine ambit as 81% of state’s samples show UK COVID variant
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen the vaccination ambit to cover those younger than 60 as the mutant has been found to be infecting young people more, an official statement quoting him said.
FollowPunjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urgently allow vaccination for younger people as 81 per cent of Covid samples in the state showed infection by the UK variant of the virus.
Expressing concern over the Covid-19 situation, the chief minister also appealed to people to get themselves vaccinated and stressed the need for the Central government to urgently open up vaccination for a larger section of the population.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen the vaccination ambit to cover those younger than 60 as the mutant has been found to be infecting young people more, an official statement quoting him said.
Singh said that the process needs to be expedited, pointing that experts have found the existing Covishield vaccine to be equally effective against the UK variant - B.1.1.7. “It was essential to vaccinate more and more people to break the chain of transmission,” he said, according to a statement released by his office.
According to the statement, 81% of the latest 401 samples sent by the state for genome sequencing were positive for the new UK Covid variant.
The state government, which has already announced fresh restrictions, would be forced to impose more curbs if people don’t follow Covid appropriate behaviour, Amarinder Singh warned.
The appeal from the chief minister came after head of the state's Covid expert committee Dr K K Talwar apprised him of developments on the new variant in the state, which has been witnessing a surge in the number of cases in the last few weeks.
The chief minister had been informed by Talwar that though the UK variant B.1.1.7 is more infectious it is not more virulent.
With a large section of its population being people who returned from abroad after the outbreak of the pandemic, the Punjab government has been extra vigilant in tracking the virus in the state.
Over the last 24 hours, the state has seen 2,299 fresh cases, 58 people have died.
