Give priority to us in vaccine distribution: Kerala to Centre

Kerala continues to report around 5,000 cases daily, which is the highest in the country and it has been so continuously for more than a month.

KERALA HAS asked the Centre to give it priority in distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, considering the high number of cases in the state and to make the best out of its strategy of delaying the peak in containing the disease.

Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja told The Indian Express that the state government has requested the central government to give the state priority so that it can bring the pandemic under control soon. The state government cited its epidemiological conditions – it has high number of cases related to heart diseases and diabetes – and its population density as well as its strategy in containing the disease to justify its demand.

“Our strategy has been to delay the peak. Though we were the first state to report the disease, the cases in the state has peaked just now. Despite our population’s vulnerability and susceptibility, we have succeeded in our strategy. So in order to get the best out of our strategy, we need to get the vaccine first,” Mohammad Asheel, executive director of Kerala Social Security Mission under the Social Justice Department, told The Indian Express.

He said the state’s test positivity rate is still at 10 per cent. “Not at any point, 25 per cent of our ventilators was occupied,” he said.

Kerala continues to report around 5,000 cases daily, which is the highest in the country and it has been so continuously for more than a month.

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