Centre asks 5 states including Maharashtra, Punjab to expedite COVID vaccination of healthcare workers

New Delhi, Feb 23: The Union health ministry on Tuesday asked Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh to expedite the vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers so as to confer immunity in the shortest possible time-frame in the wake of a rising trend of COVID-19 cases and positively rate in some districts.

In a letter to the Maharashtra government, Additional Secretary in the health ministry Manohar Agnani said a rising trend of COVID-19 cases and the positivity rate has been observed in six districts -- Pune, Nagpur, Mumbai and Suburban, Amravati, Thane and Akola -- over the past few days.

Similarly, in a letter to the Madhya Pradesh government, he said a surge in the number of cases and the positivity rate has been observed in three districts -- Indore, Bhopal and Betul.

In Punjab, Agnani said an increase in the number of cases and the positivity rate has been observed in three districts -- SBS Nagar, Kapurthala and Sri Muktsar Sahib -- while the same has been witnessed in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir and Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh.

"Hence, it is advised that the vaccination of HCWs and FLWs in these districts is expedited so as to confer immunity in the shortest possible time-frame, as they are also involved in containment, surveillance and management of COVID-19 cases.

"You are requested to kindly direct the district officials concerned to immediately undertake measures for the maximum coverage of HCWs and FLWs with the COVID-19 vaccine at the earliest," the letter stated.