Health Ministry asks four States to vaccinate priority groups in districts with fresh Covid-19 outbreak

Health Ministry on Tuesday wrote to health secretaries of four States and one Union Territory – Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir – urging them to take necessary measures to get health care workers and front line workers vaccinated in those districts which are witnessing a rising trend in Covid-19 cases.

In separate letters written to those in charge of Health and Family Welfare Departments in these States and UT, Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary in the Union Health Ministry said National Expert Group on Vaccination against Covid-19 recommended priority vaccination of health care workers and frontline workers as they are most susceptible to Covid-19 infection by virtue of their work.

The letter further asked the State authorities to direct district administrations which are seeing a rise in Covid-19 infections to immediately vaccinate maximum number of these workers.

While six districts in Maharashtra – Akola, Amaravati, Mumbai and Suburban, Nagpur, Pune and Thane – are witnessing increase in cases, in Madhya Pradesh there are three districts – Betul, Bhopal and Indore. In Punjab too the cases are going up in three districts such as Kapurthala, SBS Nagar and Sri Muktsar Sahib. In Chhattisgarh and Jammu & Kashmir one district each is affected – Rajnandgoan and Pulwama districts respectively.