Punjab falls short of vaccine amid Covid surge

Amid the alert of the Covid surge, Punjab is facing an acute shortage of Covid vaccine since the 1st of April. Keeping that in mind, the state government has asked the central government to send the requisite lot as soon as possible.
On average, the state records over 40 new cases daily. The department said 100 fresh cases were reported in Punjab on 5 April. Of these, the highest number (47) was reported from Mohali, followed by 10 each in Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana. Currently, there are 437 active cases in the state.
The department has already started directing people to avoid crowded places and wear masks whenever they go outside in view of Covid’s spread. In Patiala, the district department on Wednesday also made it mandatory for officials at health institutions to wear masks at all times.
State programme officer for Covid-19 control, Dr. Rajesh Bhaskar, told that the department has been facing the shortage since 1 April. “There is a shortage across the state, and we have already written to the central government and raised the demand for vaccines. The government is expected to supply vaccines at the earliest possible time, maybe in the coming week.”
Health officials in Patiala said the department had recorded four new cases in the district on Wednesday, taking the total o
f active cases to 19.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh, who visited Government Rajindra Hospital to review the arrangements at the isolation ward, said the state government was well prepared with the requisite bed capacity and ventilators in hospitals, besides having adequate masks, PPE, and testing kits.
Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh visited Government Rajindra Hospital to review arrangements at the isolation ward. He said the state government was prepared with the requisite bed capacity and ventilators at hospitals, besides having adequate masks, PPE, and testing kits.