The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday ruled out Covid-19 vaccination for people below 45 years, observing that the current strategy had been crafted carefully to minimise the deaths and protect the vulnerable.
The shots could not be extended to the younger generation at the moment, health officials said, rejecting a demand from the Indian Medical Association, some of the Chief Ministers and a section of health experts who wanted the Covid-19 vaccine for anyone above 18 years.
"The basic aim is to reduce death through vaccination. The other aim is to protect the health care system. If doctors, nurses and paramedics are infected then who would run the hospitals. These are the two objectives of vaccination in all countries,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.
The 45 plus age group was chosen for the vaccines because 88 per cent of Covid-19 mortality in India happened in this category.
India for the first time on Monday recorded more than 40 lakh vaccination, which according to V K Paul, NITI Ayog member, calls for celebration.
“But vaccinations can't be trivialised. When we talk about opening vaccination to all, our focus reduces on controlling the pandemic. Did you hear about any country that vaccinates those younger than 45 years?" he asked.
Bhushan cited the examples of the UK, USA, France, Sweden and Australia to argue that in each of these countries, Covid-19 vaccines were administered to protect the vulnerable population and reduce mortality.
"The objective is never to vaccinate those who demand it. Rather, it is to vaccinate those who need it,” he said.
The responses from health officials came after Indian Medical Association and Association of Healthcare Providers (India) wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking to widen the vaccination ambit to include anyone above 18 years. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also made similar demands.
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The officials noted that Maharashtra, Punjab and Chhattisgarh remained a matter of grave concern. While Maharashtra presents an overwhelming number of new Covid-19 cases and deaths, the fatality trends of Punjab and Chhattisgarh are worrying because of their smaller population size.
Nearly 97,000 new cases and 446 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, whereas the active caseload climbed to 7.88 lakh on Tuesday.