Describing the new vaccination policy for the 18-plus age group as unfair to the states, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday sought the Centre-State parity in vaccination for 18-plus age groups from May 1, while calling for urgent steps to ensure adequate Oxygen supply.
“As our Government has adopted all measures to minimize demand for oxygen, given the criticality of it as the most essential drug for treatment of serious Covid patients, the Government of India must ensure that all commitments as per the allocation are complied with by liquid oxygen manufacturers in other States,” the Chief Minister demanded, adding that this was not happening at present.
Punjab’s supplies come from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, and there are reports of supplies being ‘hijacked’, he said at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s virtual conference to discuss the Covid situation with the Chief Ministers of the worst-hit states.
On the vaccination front, the Chief Minister said that at the rates declared by one manufacturer, the cost to the Punjab Government will be over Rs 1,000 crore. He sought central government funding for vaccination, with permission to make the cost a fit charge on SDRF funds in the interim.
ENSURE REGULAR VACCINATION SUPPLY
The Chief Minister said that the regular vaccine supply must be ensured to maintain the supply chain to the last vaccination booth. “Due to supply shortage, the vaccination in the last one week has been slightly low, that is around 75-80,000 daily,” he said. He pointed out that Punjab received fresh supplies a day before, and the current stocks can last only three days as demand for vaccine is increasing. Capt Amarinder also expressed concern over lack of clarity on the quantity of vaccine to be made available by the Centre after May 1, and how the manufacturers will regulate supplies to different States and private purchasers.
REMDESIVIR, TOCI “NOT MAGIC WANDS”, INFORM PUBLIC ABOUT AVAILABLE SUBSTITUTES
The Chief Minister also pointed to the shortage and black-marketing of medicines like Remdesivir and Toci, which was creating great panic in the media and general public. “Though the Central Government is making efforts to increase their supply, a clearer messaging is required to inform the public that they are not magic wands, and also about available substitutes,” he stressed. Pointing to the shortage of antiviral Remdesivir Injections and zero availability of Toci injections in the State, he said that hospitals were, however, following treatment protocol for critical patients and using alternate medicines.
DIRECT CENTRAL INSTITUTIONS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL COVID BEDS
Citing the increase in the number of cases to around 5,000 per day, with 10 percent positivity in the past one week, from around 3000 per day with eight percent positivity during the last videoconferencing on April 8, the Chief Minister urged the Prime Minister to direct central institutions like AIIMS Bathinda, PGI Satellite Centres, and Military Hospitals in Punjab to provide additional COVID beds. Prefab structures on offer by CSIR could be used for this purpose, he said, pointing to the grave situation in the State, with a case fatality rate of 1.4 percent.
ESCALATE EFFORTS TO UNDERSTAND VIRUS MUTATIONS
Expressing concern over the fact that Punjab had not received any fresh results on viral genome sequencing in the past almost a month, when the last results showed over 85 percent UK strain, Capt Amarinder urged the Prime Minister to order escalation of efforts to understand the mutations, and their implications for proper policy response. He also urged the Government of India to build a consensus on COVID appropriate behaviour to check the spread of the virus.