Kerala CM urges PM Modi to procure Covid-19 vaccine to vaccinate all

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to procure vaccines for states from an open market so as to achieve universal vaccination.

Vijayan said that building herd immunity through universal vaccination was the best way to resist the pandemic. Since the states individually floating global tenders for procuring vaccines may push up vaccine prices, the Centre may assess the vaccine requirement of each state and float global tender as it would help reduce price, he said.

The Kerala government had already announced that vaccine would be provided free of cost and steps for procuring vaccines were already initiated.

Vijayan also reiterated the state's demand for providing vaccines free of cost to all states. He added that the stock of vaccine provided by the Centre for vaccinating those above the age of 45 had already exhausted and the state was awaiting further supply from the Centre to resume vaccination.

Meanwhile, four 'black fungus'-related deaths were reported in Kerala.