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Stop 2nd surge to prevent pan-Indian outbreak: Modi
CMs ask for opening vaccination drive to more people, higher supply to boost pace
If India does not stop a second surge of Covid-19 cases, it could face another pan-Indian outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday during an urgent meeting with chief ministers, some of whom asked the Union government to open up the vaccination drive to allow more people to become eligible.
The PM said 70 districts have logged an over 150% increase in Covid-19 cases recently, and that “quick and decisive steps” were needed to revamp safety protocols, scale up RT-PCR testing, and add more vaccination sites.
“This is also a test of good governance,” the PM told the chief ministers in his first meeting with them since vaccination started in India on January 16, and stressed on his mantra of “davai bhi, kadai bhi” (treatment also, stringent protocols also).
“We have to stop this rising second surge immediately, and for this, we need quick and decisive steps,” the PM said.
The PM raised several key points — bringing focus back on the test-trace-treat strategy by ensuring at least 70% of tests are through the RT-PCR method, more contacts of patients are traced, and micro-containment zones are created; the need to accelerate vaccinations, reduce wastage, and prevent expiry of doses; and the importance of protecting villages and rural areas that have weaker health resources. “Our progress in the fight against Covid gives us confidence. But this should not turn into overconfidence. Our success should not turn into carelessness. We also need to ensure we don’t go into panic, or let fear spread. We have to be proactive in this phase,” he said.
On Wednesday, Union health ministry separately listed out districts in 12 states and Union territories where infections have grown significantly. From a low of around 11,000 cases every day in the second week of February – the lowest levels recorded since the outbreak began in the country in March last year – India is now recording over 24,000 cases a day on a weekly average. On Wednesday, it added 35,836 cases, highest since December 5.
Representatives of at least three states asked the PM at the meeting to consider allowing more people to seek coronavirus doses. At present, people above the age of 60 or those older than 45 but with certain medical conditions are eligible for doses.
The demand to relax these conditions came from Maharashtra’s CM Uddhav Thackeray, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Kerala’s tourism minister K Surendran, filling in for CM Pinarayi Vijayan. According to officials in Punjab and Maharashtra, both the states pointed to a large number of infections among younger people to call for those groups to be included. Singh also suggested lawyers and judges should be added in the priority list.
According to the Maharashtra CM’s office, Thackeray said: “Keeping in mind that there is young population among those who are getting infected, people above age 45, irrespective of comorbidities, should get vaccination”. According to a functionary present in the meeting, the PM replied we might not need to go to that level of vaccination.
Several of the states also urged the Union government to send over more vaccine doses. “I have already informed the Union health ministry about the state’s plan to inoculate 300,000 people on a daily basis. At present, the state has a stock that will last only for the next 10 days,” said Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope. Similar demands were made by West Bengal and Karnataka.
PM Modi outlined the need to accelerate vaccinations as well as the number of tests being carried out, and in particular highlighted regions where vaccine wastage was high. “We need to take the process of test-trace-treat as seriously as we did over the past year. Every infected person’s contacts should be traced in the quickest amount of time, and it is important to ensure at least 70% of all tests are through the RT-PCR method,” Modi said.
Modi said governments must focus on ramping up testing in smaller cities. “Till now, over tier-2 and tier-3 cities largely avoided the worst of the outbreaks. Hence, the villages in their vicinities were spared. But if the virus now reaches these regions, our resources could fall short,” he said. The PM asked for micro-containment zones to be set up and noted that “in some places, local administration is not very strict on wearing masks. These issues must be resolved.” He noted that some states made certain recommendations about the vaccination process and that while the country has scaled up the process, it now needs to address wastage. “Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have 10% wastage of vaccines. UP has near 10% wastage. More beneficiaries should be mobilised...States must target zero wastage of vaccines,” Modi said, suggesting daily monitoring of vaccine usage. “If we waste vaccines, we are robbing someone’s right to get vaccinated. We cannot take that right away from anyone.”
Since it began vaccinating people on January 16, India has delivered 36.4 million doses. In the last 24 hours, 1.4 million doses were delivered. “If more centres can be added and they work on a mission mode, we will reduce wastage... Also, keep in mind the expiry date of the vaccine. Use the earlier batches first,” Modi said, hailing how 3 million people were vaccinated on one single day.
During the meeting, Union home minister Amit Shah highlighted districts that require special focus. Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan gave a presentation on the Covid situation and the vaccination strategy.
(With PTI inputs)
