Punjab CM demands more supply from centre: 'No Covishield, only 1 day Covaxin stock left'

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday, July 9, flagged the shortage of novel coronavirus vaccines in the state. He claimed that they had run out of Covishield doses and were left with just one day's stock of Covaxin. The CM reiterated the demand for more supply of vaccines by the Central government. 

Urging the Centre to increase the state's vaccine quota, Singh said this move is important as Punjab was opening sectors conditional to stakeholders having inoculated at least one dose. The 79-year-old leader said that the state has already vaccinated around 83 lakh eligible persons and has been utilising vaccines without any wastage. Currently, 70 lakh people have received the first dose, while 13 lakh people had taken both doses, Singh said.

Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan, during the Covid review meeting, said the administration was following up with the Centre for more doses. Meanwhile, Punjab recorded 225 new cases and 16 deaths in the past 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry. The total number of recover patients stands at 5,79,111, while the death toll is 16,157.

COVID-19 Vaccination in India

According to the official data from Health Ministry, as of Friday, 7 am, 40,23,173 people were vaccinated in the last 24 hours. Of this, more than 27 lakh people receive the first dose while the remaining received the second dose.Till now, India has administred 36,89,91,222 doses of COVID-19 vaccine so far. Total 29,86,78,913 people have received first dose while 7,03,12,309 have got second dose. Currently, Uttar Pradesh is leading in administering first doses, followed by Maharashtra and Rajasthan. In terms of administering the second dose, Maharastra is leading the table, followed by Gujarat and West Bengal. Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 infection tally is over 30-7 million. As per the official data, 2,98,88,284 individuals have recovered from the illness, while 4,05,939 deaths have been reported so far. The active caseload stands at 4,58,727.