Chandigarh: Even as he prepared to kickstart the process of vaccination of 1.74 lakh health workers, with 40,000 to be covered every day over the next five days in the first phase, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking free vaccine delivery to the poor population of the state.
The Chief Minister, while acknowledging the receipt of 204,500 doses of Covishield vaccine, thanked the Prime Minister for making it available on priority to the healthcare workers of the state and Central governments in Punjab.
At the same time, he earnestly requested the Prime Minister "to consider providing free vaccine to the poor population with a view to lessen the disease burden and also ensuring a check on the further spread of transmission thereby allowing more economic activity".
Referring to reports citing some Central government sources that, apart from the healthcare workers and frontline workers, the remaining population may not be provided free vaccine, Amarinder Singh pointed out in his letter that "the people of the state have gone through a very difficult time due to Covid wherein economic activities have nosedived and the economy has still not recovered from this shock".
"It would be difficult for the poorer sections of society to pay for the vaccination," he said.
The Chief Minister said in his letter that all steps are in place to ensure vaccination of healthcare workers on priority, with frontline workers to follow in the next phase.
The state has adequate capacity for storing as well as transportation of the vaccine, he wrote, adding that a sufficient number of vaccination sites have been identified and all logistics tied up.