Punjab has requested PM Modi to urgently allow vaccination of the very young.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urgently allow vaccination of the very young, as 81% of Covid samples in the state showed infection with the British variant of the virus. B117, an extremely virulent form of the virus, is heavily affecting younger people and UK authorities have found the Covishield vaccine to be effective against it, the Chief Minister said.
Genome sequencing was performed on 401 samples from Punjab recently and the results showed that 81 per cent of the samples were from the B117 virus, which began spreading in the UK since November.
It now comprises 98 per cent of new cases in the UK and 90 per cent in Spain. UK authorities said the mutant strain is up to 70 percent more infectious than the virus that comes from Wuhan in China.
In recent weeks, coronavirus numbers have skyrocketed in the state, reflecting a similar trend in at least seven other states. The resurgence of the virus, which is identified as the second emerging wave of Covid in the country, is suspected to have been triggered by mutant forms of the virus.
As of today, the total number of infections with variants from the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa in the country was 795, according to data from the Union Ministry of Health.
Expressing concern about the emerging situation, the Chief Minister highlighted the need for the central government to urgently open vaccination to a larger sector of the population … It was essential to vaccinate more and more people to break the chain of transmission, “he read a statement from the Chief Minister’s office.
Since a large part of its population are people who returned from abroad after the outbreak of the pandemic, the Punjab government has been more vigilant in tracking the virus in the state.
During the last 24 hours, the state has seen 2,299 new cases, 58 people have died.
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