AMARAVATI: On one hand, Andhra Pradesh is witnessing a spurt in Covid-19 cases, on the other hand it is facing shortage of vaccine. At present, the State has 3 lakh doses of Covid vaccine that will last only two days as 1.4 lakh people are being administered vaccine per day on an average.
Officials brought the matter to the notice of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday during a review meeting on Covid. He directed them to pursue the matter with the Centre and ensure that AP gets adequate stocks of vaccine at the earliest as vaccination is the only solution to prevent the spike in Covid cases.
Directing the officials to place an indent for 24 lakh doses of vaccine, he said Covid jabs should also be administered at village secretariats in the State.
After attending a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Covid, the Chief Minister asked the officials to successfully con-duct ‘Tika Utsav’ in the State from April 11 to 14. He wanted the officials to vaccinate six lakh people a day during those four days and come up with a plan for the success of Tika Utsav covering a total of 24 lakh people.
He directed the medical and health department to coordinate with the Centre to ensure that the vaccine stocks are sent to the State in time for Tika Utsav.
Pointing out that there are nearly one crore people aged 45 and above waiting for vaccination in the State, he said steps should be taken to complete the vaccination drive in one month. A target to vaccinate six lakh people a day should be set and required doses of vaccine should be procured to realize the target, he said.
Stating that the State had suffered Rs 21,000 crore loss due to Covid last year, the Chief Minister said lockdown like situation will severely affect the economy and wanted the officials to strive to avoid such a situation.
The officials informed him that 66 Covid hospitals and 22 Covid care centres were set up to treat positive cases. About four lakh home isolation kits are made available in the State.
Deputy Chief Minister (Health) Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas (Nani) said the government has al-ready placed indent for more vaccine doses to the Centre and 2.5 lakh doses are expected to reach the State by Fri-day and another 10 lakh doses in the next couple of weeks.