Captain Amarinder Singh the Punjab Chief Minister and his counterpart in Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot said on Saturday that stocks of vaccine doses against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) are fast decreasing that is joining the list of states that have complained of a shortage.
The state’s vaccine stock will only last for three days was pointed out by Singh, Gehlot said the shortage of vaccines. During a virtual meeting chaired by the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi with leaders of states ruled by the party to take a view on their ongoing efforts against the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this the Chief Minister of Rajasthan on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that vaccine stocks in his state will last only till Sunday.
“Punjab is left with only five days of supply (5.7 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses) at the current levels of vaccinating 85000-90000 persons a day. If the state is able to meet its target of 2 lakh vaccines a day, then its current supplies will last only three days,” Singh said during the meeting, news agency ANI reported.
In a meeting with @INCIndia President Sonia Gandhi Ji to review the #Covid19 situation with Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled States. Apprised her of the aggressive measures being taken by Punjab to combat the latest surge. pic.twitter.com/L7ezwm2YAX
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) April 10, 2021
Singh added that he had written to the Prime Minister and the Union health minister Harsh Vardhan to send the state the confirmed supply schedules, and urged the Centre to share the schedule for the supply of vaccines with the states over the next quarter based on their confirmed supply orders.
“Despite being a slow-starter in vaccination, Punjab has vaccinated more than 16 lakh people, at an average of around 85000-90000 per day,” Singh was quoted as saying by ANI.
In the meet with Gandhi, Rajasthan CM Gehlot said that the shortage of vaccines was a reality and the Union government should take states on board as stakeholders and not as their adversaries. Gehlot said that the state authorities are aiming for maximum vaccination of people of 45-year-old age group.
Remarks of Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi at a meeting of Congress ruled States & Congress Ministers from our alliance States to review the efforts to fight COVID-19 including availability of vaccines, access to medicines & ventilators. pic.twitter.com/fvJWhzrNO9
— Congress (@INCIndia) April 10, 2021
In his letter to the Prime Minister on Friday, Gehlot said that the present stock of vaccine in Rajasthan will finish in the next two days, requesting that at least another 30 lakh doses of vaccine be provided to the state immediately. “We have already planned to increase the pace of vaccination to 5 lakh beneficiaries per day through a collaborative approach and effective mobilization of beneficiaries,” Gehlot said in his letter to PM, reported PTI.
Several Indian states including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Jharkhand, are facing a shortage of Covid-19 vaccine and have sought immediate assistance from the Centre. India is currently witnessing the second wave of the pandemic and reported more than 140,000 new infections on Saturday, the highest single-day spike ever since the beginning of the pandemic.
