After Delhi CM, UP CM Yogi Adityanath Now Wants COVID-19 Vaccine Made Available For All Adults

Amid growing concerns over the increase in the spread of COVID-19 cases in India and reports of the vaccines getting wasted, calls to make the life-saving jabs accessible to all are getting louder.

Currently, the two COIVD-19 vaccines that are being administered in India are only available for frontline healthcare workers, the elderly, and those about the age of 45 with comorbidities.

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has his government has decided to approach the Union Health Ministry with the proposal for opening the vaccination to the people in the 18-45 years bracket.

Proposal sent

The proposal will also seek permission for doing away with the co-morbidity rider for taking Covid shots for the people falling in the age-group of 45-60 years.

On Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too had made a similar appeal.

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¡°The Centre should make vaccines open for all those who are 18 years of age and above. India is producing enough Covid-19 vaccines now to get this done. Walk-in centres should be opened for all. I urge the central government to take this up on a war footing. If this is allowed, we can vaccinate everyone in Delhi in three months,¡± Kejriwal said.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has also advocated giving coronavirus vaccine to all age groups to reduce its waste.

"What a shame that while so many of us are waiting patiently for our turn to get a COVID vaccine the government admits that 6.5% of the vaccine doses are being wasted," Omar tweeted on Wednesday night. "If vaccines are allowed for all age groups this wastage can be brought down drastically."

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This comes as the Centre had said on Wednesday that the average wastage of the vaccine was 6.5 per cent, with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh recording 17.6 and 11.6 per cent wastage respectively.

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday expressed concern over the high rate of vaccine wastage in the state.

A recent survey by LocalCircles found that seventy-five per cent of citizens are in favour of the government opening up the vaccination process for all above 18 by permitting private labs and hospitals to vaccinate in after-hours via appointment and walk-in.

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India, like most of the other countries, began the COVID-19 vaccination in a phased manner, with healthcare workers and frontline workers being the first to receive the jab.

In the second and ongoing phase, the elderly and those with comorbidities have been included and private hospitals have also been allowed to administer the jabs.

Like most countries, India also face a demand and supply gap that is forcing the country to roll out the vaccination in a phased manner.