J-K seeks 20 lakh more Covid vaccine doses from Centre

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has sought 20 lakh more doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the Centre before July 10, officials said on Thursday.

This demand was raised by J-K Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba to review the public health response to COVID-19.

Gauba asked the states and the union territories to closely monitor the trajectory of Covid infections to prevent subsequent surges and expedite vaccination of people above 18 years of age.

The J-K Chief Secretary requested the central government to provide 20 lakh doses to the union territory before July 10 to enhance immunity in the general public, an official spokesman said.

Gauba said India is witnessing a consistent decline in Covid cases from the peak 4.14 lakh cases in May 2021 to 54,000 cases reported on Wednesday.

He urged the states and UTs to ensure a multi-sectoral response based on test-track-treat and vaccinate more people to prevent subsequent waves of infection especially in the wake of Delta and Delta Plus mutant strains of the virus.

J-K at present has 6,782 active Covid cases with 96.5 percent recovery rate, 1.4 percent mortality rate and 0.9 percent positivity rate (in last 24 hours), the spokesman said.

The UT has vaccinated 85 percent of its healthcare workers, 84 percent of frontline workers, 80 percent people above 45 age category and 10 percent of 18-45 age group, he said.

The J-K chief secretary asked the health department to ensure 100 percent vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers within a week.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)