Open Vaccine to All: From Delhi to Chhattisgarh, Here's All the States That Have Made the Demand

Delhi Health Minister on Thursday has requested the Central government to allow vaccinations for all adults to contain the rising number of covid-19 cases in the country.

“CM (Arvind Kejriwal) had written to the Centre that vaccination should be opened for all. We have made two more requests that vaccination should be allowed at least for all adults. Secondly, it should be allowed even at camp settings, and not only at health care facilities,” Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said.

The statement came after the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in a sharp rebuke to states asking for the age bar expansion flagged them for not adequately vaccinating eligible beneficiaries, including healthcare workers.

News18 has compiled a list of states that have demanded the Centre to open vaccination to all.

Maharashtra

The central and the Maharashtra government have been locked in a war of words over the coronavirus situation. Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the state is facing a shortage of Covid-19 vaccines and demanded vaccination for 18 to 40 years age group. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last week had requested Modi to allow people above 25 years to receive Covid-19 shots.

Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow all people above 18 years of age to get vaccinated against COVID-19, in the wake of an alarming rise in cases of the viral infection. “Now, when the COVID-19 infection is increasing, we always think that the younger generation of our young country should be prepared to manage the future challenges like they always did,” Baghel said in a tweet in Hindi. It is, therefore, necessary that the minimum age of vaccination should be set at 18 years. Humble request to @PMOIndia @narendramodi ji,” he added

Punjab

Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Saturday ordered the health department to vaccinate all persons above 45 years of age by end of April. She directed the administrative secretary in-charge of each district to oversee the planning and response system.

Delhi

The Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had appealed to the Centre to open the vaccination for all aged above 18 years. Health minister Jain in a statement today noted, “As per the new trend, the virus is fast spreading among the people aged between 20 to 45 years. They may not get affected much but can pose a threat to the elderly at home. Therefore, the vaccination should now be made available to all ages,” he said.

Centre’s Response

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the demand of expanding the vaccination drive to all age groups indicates that they have vaccinated healthcare workers, frontline workers and senior citizens but the facts of the vaccine coverage in these states is “altogether different.”

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had described the age-specific phased vaccination drive was devised as the “vaccines will be in limited supply” in this phase of vaccination till around July. “The approach is that those vulnerable to mortality need to be covered soonest. The aim is to protect the most vulnerable. The aim is never to vaccinate whoever wants it, but always whoever needs it, he said at a press meet.

Reiterating Covid-appropriate behaviour and containment measures, VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog on the possible expansion of the vaccination drive said, “When the time comes to open it to all, then we will.”

India registered a record single-day spike of 1,26,789 new Covid-19 cases, pushing its infection tally to 1,29,28,574, while the number of active cases too went upwards to breach the nine lakh-mark again, Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday showed.

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