New Delhi: The Cabinet cleared Monday the proposal for vaccination for all those above 45 from April 1. Currently people in the age group of 60 and above and those with comorbidities above the age of 45 are getting preference for vaccination. Now, with the new decision a larger gamut of people will be brought under the vaccination programme.
Earlier in the day, it was revealed that eighty-one per cent of the 401 samples sent by the government for genome sequencing have tested positive for the UK variant of COVID-19. This information was given Tuesday by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. He asked the Centre to widen the vaccination net to cover those younger than 60. Expressing concern over the COVID-19 situation, Amarinder Singh also appealed to people to get themselves vaccinated. He stressed the need for the Central government to urgently open up vaccination for a larger section of the population.
Singh urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen the vaccination ambit to cover those younger than 60. This is because the mutant has been found to be infecting young people more, an official statement quoting him said.
“The process needs to be expedited,” Amarinder said. He pointed to the fact that experts had found the 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. The Punjab government, which has already announced fresh restrictions, would be forced to impose more curbs if people don’t follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour, Singh warned.
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The appeal from the chief minister came after head of Punjab’s COVID-19 expert committee Dr KK 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. Singh had been informed by Talwar that though the UK variant ‘B.1.1.7’ is more infectious it is not more virulent.
Punjab reported Monday 2,319 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 2,15,409, and 58 fatalities, pushing the death toll to 6,382.
