Shashi Tharoor tagged Heath Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in tweets seeking more jabs for Kerala. File
With Kerala consistently reporting five-figure Covid case counts daily, senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has urged the centre to provide additional doses of vaccines to the southern state.
Stressing that the target to vaccinate 10 million people before Onam must be met, he warned that the state with the maximum Covid caseload in the country could "spark a national crisis".
Tagging Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Mr Tharoor tweeted today, "Kerala has 20,000+ daily cases. Initial success in curbing Covid means that fewer people have antibodies, 43% vs 68% nationally. The Centre must assist with more vaccines: we should vaccinate 10m ppl across age groups before Onam to reduce high-risk cases & healthcare burdens."
"I appeal to the Union Govt to provide additional doses of vaccine to Kerala State to make the target of 10 million people possible before Onam. Otherwise India's largest #Covid caseload could become even larger & spark a national crisis. @mansukhmandviya," he added.
Kerala today recorded 23,676 cases and 148 deaths over the past 24 hours with a positivity rate of 11.87 per cent.
State Health Minister Veena George recently told NDTV that with more than 50 per cent of its population still not infected, the current Covid trend was always expected.
Citing several parameters that indicate "our defensive measures were very good", Ms George said the focus right now is on vaccines, something the state is running out of quickly.
"The situation in Kerala is absolutely under control. How do you analyse this? Look at the data on occupancy in hospitals. It is less for hospitals, for ICU beds, and even in demand for oxygen support. It means the severity of the disease is less," she had said.
Kerala's vaccination coverage is among the highest in the country. The state has so far administered more than 2.07 crore doses of vaccines. Over 61.5 lakh people in the country have received both shots, as per Union Health Ministry data.