Punjab, Haryana fare poorly in vaccinating frontline staff

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 10

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan today held a videoconference with states to flag poor vaccine coverage of even priority groups. Punjab and Haryana have posted below average coverage for both health and frontline workers.

The government data shows the national average for the first and second dose administration among health workers is 82 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively. Eighteen states and UTs, including Punjab, Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Assam, have coverage below national average in the health worker segment.

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For frontline workers, the national average for the first and second dose coverage is 85 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively. The second dose coverage is less than the national average in case of 19 states, including Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Telangana and Karnataka. “The states have been told to step up the coverage,” Bhushan said.

Meanwhile, India’s daily Covid-19 deaths jumped by whopping three times today after the Bihar Government revised cumulative fatalities following directions from the Patna High Court that had flagged irregularities in the mortality figures reported from Buxar.

The revision by Bihar, following a 20-day audit that detected 3,951 additional deaths in the state, triggered the debate about the sanctity of mortality figures in the country.

Top virologist Shahid Jameel said underreporting of deaths was a reality, though it might not be deliberate.

As Bihar accounted for hitherto missed deaths at private hospitals, homes and due to post-Covid complications, India witnessed record 6,148 daily deaths today, as against 2,129 yesterday.

Bihar reported 72.8 per cent rise in Covid fatalities (5,424 to 9,375) following the latest audit, with experts asking if other states would follow the suit to audit data. The government had recently junked a global media report that projected Indian deaths at several times the official data.

94,052 fresh cases

6,148 deaths in 24 hours

TOTAL DEATHS 3,59,676

ACTIVE CASES 11,67,952

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