Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking whether the vaccination against COVID-19 will be entirely financed by the Centre, including the cost of the doses and other supplies.
In the letter, he sought priority allocation of vaccine to Punjab on account of its higher mortality rate resulting from the population age profile and high levels of co-morbidities.
He said that despite its relatively low case load, the fatality rate due to COVID-19 was higher in Punjab, which thus needed a special dispensation in the allocation of the vaccine. Pointing out that the vaccines currently under consideration would not perhaps reduce transmission so much as prevent serious disease, Capt. Singh said the best use of these vaccines would, therefore, be in preventing serious illness in the most susceptible groups, including elderly and persons with high morbidity.
Seeking clarity on whether the COVID-19 vaccination would be entirely financed by the Centre, Capt. Singh also asked for clarity on the principles based on which the prioritised groups were to be identified for sequential immunisation phases, and leave the preparation of the list of prioritised groups to the State.
The CM also sought expansion of the definition of frontline workers for the purpose of immunisation to include administrative officials and others responsible for essential functions.
While the definition of healthcare worker was relatively precise and Punjab had compiled data based on it, the definition of frontline workers lacked clarity, he noted. Capt. SIngh added that as of now, it seemed to include only security forces (the police and armed forces) and municipal workers, with some mention of primary school teachers.
