Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday trashed BJP’s allegation of Congress-ruled states rejecting Covaxin as a complete lie and part of the ruling party’s false and politically-motivated propaganda.
Categorically denying the charge on Covaxin, the Chief Minister slammed BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra’s claim that Punjab, along with other Opposition-ruled states, had expressed doubts and refused to accept the vaccination. “It is not at all true,” said Capt Amarinder, who was responding to a question during an informal media interaction after taking the first shot of the Covid Vaccine at Mohali Civil Hospital.
When asked how he was feeling after the COVID jab, the Chief Minister said that he was in ‘chardi kalan’ (high spirits) and was feeling absolutely fine. Later, Punjab Health Department’s official said that the State had received 1.34 lakh Covaxin doses, of which 2,500 had already been administered.
Admitting that cases of COVID in Punjab were on the rise, having crossed 1,000 after more than a month, Capt Amarinder said that it was a matter of concern. “Punjab Government is keeping a close watch on the situation,” he said, blaming the casual and carefree attitude of Punjabis for the resurgence in cases. He appealed to the people to strictly adhere to all COVID safety norms, including wearing of masks and social distancing, and not let their guard down, as the Coronavirus had not gone yet.
COVID CURBS TO CONTINUE WITH MEASURES: CAPT
Underlining the need to continue COVID appropriate behaviour, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday made it clear that safety restrictions and norms in the State shall continue, while ensuring minimum, if any, loss of livelihood to the citizens of the State. Claiming that Punjab succeeded in managing and containing the pandemic, the Chief Minister said that a year since the pandemic broke out, “I could say with satisfaction that we have done well, thanks to the hard work of all health and frontline workers, district and police administration, NGOs, local representatives, and above all, the people”.
Punjab was thought to be potentially a high-risk State given its international airports, and a large diaspora, but despite being over 2.5 percent of India’s population, the cases reported in Punjab have been relatively much less at the rate of 1.6 percent of the country’s 1.1 crore cases, said the Chief Minister, disclosing that 5,887 persons have unfortunately lost their lives in Punjab, with a current positivity rate of 2.3 percent, “which is otherwise low but should give us no cause for complacency”.
Saying that India appears to be experiencing a second wave, he stressed that we “have to be prepared for it”.