Vials of AstraZeneca's COVISHIELD, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, are seen before they are packaged inside a lab at Serum Institute of India, Pune. (Reuters/File) Punjab on Saturday received the first batch of 1 lakh Covishield doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII). With this shipment, the phase-3 of vaccination drive for 18-44 age group is set to start in government hospitals of Punjab from Monday.
Hussan Lal, principal secretary, health, said that against the order of 30 lakh doses placed with SII, the state received 1 lakh doses Saturday. “We will start free vaccination of 18-44 years beneficiaries from Monday at government hospitals in Punjab,” said Lal.
Since the phase 3 of vaccination drive was launched on May 1 for 18+, just a few private hospitals in Punjab had started paid vaccination of this age group.
Meanwhile, in yet another Covid peak for Punjab, the state recorded 9,100 fresh Covid cases — the highest ever — and 171 deaths in past 24 hours, as per the state bulletin, Saturday. It is for the first time ever since the pandemic started last year that the daily case count in Punjab has crossed the 9,000-mark. The figure is three-time higher than the highest that was reported during first wave in a day (2,896 on September 17 last year).
The total confirmed cases in state now stands at 4,33,689 and active cases at 71,948.
With 171 fresh deaths, the Covid toll in Punjab reached 10,315 and case fatality rate (CFR) is 2.37%, higher than the national CFR of 1.09%. The number of patients ‘on ventilator support’ are 288 and those on oxygen support are 9,086.
The maximum fresh cases were recorded in Ludhiana (1,223), SAS Nagar (1,168), Bathinda (706), Jalandhar (672) and Patiala (620). Highest positivity rate is being witnessed in district SAS Nagar 28.91%.
As per the district wise break-up of 171 deaths — 19 died in Ludhiana, 17 each in Bathinda and Muktsar, 13 each in Patiala and Amritsar, 10 each in Pathankot and SAS Nagar, 11 each in Jalandhar and Sangrur, 9 in Fazilka, 7 each in Tarn Taran and Hoshiarpur, 5 in Gurdaspur, 4 each in Ropar and Kapurthala, 3 each in Ferozepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mansa and SBS Nagar and 1 each in Barnala and Faridkot,
Also, there were 6,647 fresh recoveries while a total of 77,280 beneficiaries from the healthcare, frontline workers and 45+ age group were vaccinated.
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