Rajasthan, Punjab CMs urge Centre to remove age limit for COVID-19 vaccination

Jaipur: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday (March 23) appealed to the Central government to make the COVID-19 vaccines available to more age groups so that the second wave of coronavirus can be controlled.

Expressing concern over the COVID-19 situation, the Punjab chief minister also appealed to people to get themselves vaccinated and stressed the need for the Central government to urgently open up vaccination for a larger section of the population.

He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen the vaccination ambit to cover those younger than 60 as the mutant has been found to be infecting young people more, news agency PTI quoted him said.

"As Covid-19 cases are surging in India, the Government should focus on vaccination. Public security can be ensured against COVID-19 with maximum vaccination. Hence, age group criteria should be removed and vaccination should be available for all," he said in a tweet.

"Bengaluru doctor Devi Shetty's suggestion that people under the age category of 24-45 years should also be vaccinated sounds apt because these are the people who stay out of their house for professional reasons and hence can become super spreaders. India has a huge capacity to produce vaccines which should be utilised fully," he said.

"I appeal to the Government to make the maximum number of vaccines available so that the second wave of Covid can be checked upon. One more lockdown can prove deadly for the public`s livelihood," he added.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 24,645 (60.53 per cent). It is followed by Punjab with 2,299 while Gujarat reported 1,640 new cases.

India’s total active caseload is rising after touching its lowest mark in mid-February. It stands at 3.45 lakh (3,45,377) today. A net incline of 10,731 cases recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.

Live TV