The Centre on Monday reviewed the public health response measures and Covid-19 vaccination status in the five poll-bound states. The review meeting was chaired by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in which the Centre advised the states to speed up vaccination of all the eligible population across districts.
This apart, Bhushan urged the states to exponentially speed up Covid tests and strictly enforce Covid-appropriate behaviour.
Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are due for polls next year. The terms of Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur legislative assemblies are ending on different dates in March next year while the Uttar Pradesh assembly’s term will end in May.
“While Uttarakhand and Goa have reported vaccination coverage for the first and second doses higher than the national average, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur have Covid-19 vaccination coverage numbers below the national average. Total of 142.38 crore vaccination doses have been administered as on date, of which more than 83.80 crore vaccine doses are for the first dose and more than 58.58 crore are second doses of Covid-19 vaccine,” the government said in a statement.
The Centre further asked the states to ensure that there is no sudden uptick in the number of Covid cases due to a lack of adequate Covid testing.
“The state authorities were strongly advised to ensure that recommended Covid-appropriate behaviour is strictly followed and adequate measures are undertaken for their effective enforcement,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission on Monday assessed the Covid-19 situation in the five poll-bound states with the Union health secretary and asked the government to expedite the vaccination programme there. The poll panel also asked Bhushan to expedite administering the second dose to those eligible in these five election-bound states, highly-placed sources told PTI.
Sources aware of the meeting said Health Secretary Bhushan briefed the poll panel for nearly an hour on the Covid situation in the country, especially in poll-bound Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The issue of the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was also discussed. The commission assessed the situation based on statistics provided by the health ministry, a functionary said.
The health secretary also briefed the EC about the Covid protocols and home ministry guidelines issued in the recent past to check the spread of the virus. The EC is expected to announce election dates next month. On Tuesday, the chief election commissioner (CEC) and fellow election commissioners are scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the poll preparedness in the state.
An Allahabad High Court bench of Justice Shekhar Yadav had last week urged the government and the poll panel to consider postponing the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections for a month or two and banning all political rallies amid the fears of an impending third wave of Covid.
When asked about the observation, CEC Sushil Chandra had said in Dehradun on Friday that the EC would be visiting Uttar Pradesh soon and “an appropriate decision as required by the situation will be taken after we review it”. The commission has already visited Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand as part of its pre-poll stock-taking exercise.
(With PTI inputs)
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