COVID-19 Spike|Aim is to vaccinate the ones who need it rather than the ones who want it : Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on April 6, said that of the top 10 districts having the most active COVID cases, seven districts are from Maharashtra, one from Karnataka, Chhattisgarh & Delhi each.

As India witnesses, a massive surge in COVID-19 cases, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has implied that vaccination cannot be opened for all. Addressing a press briefing on April 6, the health secretary said that globally vaccination drives have a single goal- to curb deaths of the most vulnerable group affected by the infection. Other than that, the aim is to protect the healthcare system of the country.

Bhushan further emphasized that the aim of any vaccination drive is to always vaccinate the ones who need it most, rather than the ones who want to get vaccinated.

Talking about the surge in cases, Bhushan said that of the top 10 districts having the most active COVID cases, seven districts are from Maharashtra, one from Karnataka, Chhattisgarh & Delhi, each.

India has reported over 96,000 cases in the past 24 hours.

The health secretary said that Chhattisgarh is a cause of concern, because despite being a small state, it reports 6% of total COVID cases & 3% of total deaths in the country. The condition of Chhattisgarh has deteriorated in the second wave of infections.

Bhushan also drew attention to the death numbers being reported from Punjab, which are a cause of concern. Around 4.5% of deaths due to COVID are being reported in Punjab. However, the health secretary said that is it satisfactory that the share of RT-PCR tests in average daily tests has increased to 76% in Punjab.

Talking about the epicentre of the pandemic, Maharashtra, Health Secretary Bhushan said that of all the active cases in the country, 58% of active cases are in Maharashtra. 34% of the total deaths have also been reported in Maharashtra.

"We have suggested state governments to increase the percentage of RT-PCR tests, which is reducing in Maharashtra in last few weeks. Only 60% of total tests were done through RT-PCR method in Maharashtra last week. We suggest states take it to 70% or above", said Bhushan.

Bhushan also announced another major intervention, wherein the central government will deploy 50 high level multi-disciplinary public health teams to districts reporting a surge in cases and mortality in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Punjab. The teams will be sent to 30 districts of Maharashtra, 11 districts of Chhattisgarh and 9 districts of Punjab.

They will assist the state health department and local authorities in COVID-19 surveillance, control and containment measures. The teams will submit daily reports on five aspects including- testing, contact tracing which oversees surveillance and containment as well, hospital infrastructure including ICU, ventilator & oxygen beds, enforcement of COVID Appropriate Behavior and COVID vaccination.

Talking about vaccines, the Health secretary said, "we have administered 43 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine in 24 hours yesterday, which is a record. As a result of today morning, we administered 8.31 crores doses of the vaccine".

Along with Health Secretary Bhushan, NITI Aayog's Dr VK Paul was also addressing the press. He said, "the impact of the pandemic has increased in the country. Warnings were given that the situation should not be taken for granted. The situation of the pandemic has worsened and the speed of increasing COVID19 cases is higher than last time".

But Dr Paul believes that the pandemic can still be controlled. He also said that PM Modi has called for 'Jan Bhagidari' and 'Jan Andolan' for COVID-19 management.