Below 45 account for 13% of deaths in Chandigarh Tricity

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 7

Nearly 13 per cent of the patients who have succumbed to Covid-19 in the Chandigarh tricity since the outbreak of the pandemic in March-April last year were below 45, the age-wise fatality figures show. Amid demands to open vaccination to all, the high percentage of those vulnerable but not eligible for the jab runs contrary to the Centre’s contention that for now, it wants to inoculate “those who require it”, not those who “want it”.

In the second wave, since February this year, more than 40 per cent of those infected with coronavirus in the tricity fall in the age group of 20 to 40 years.

Of the 382 Covid deaths in Chandigarh till now, 47 victims were below 45. The fatality figure for Mohali in the same age category was 72 out of the total 465. In Panchkula, of the 156 deaths reported so far, 12 victims were aged below 45.

In Chandigarh, those aged above 60 accounted for 221 deaths (57.59 per cent) and those in the age group of 45 to 59 almost 30 per cent.

Dr JA Jayalal, president of the Indian Medical Association, says people below 45 “are super spreaders, which is why they should be targeted for vaccination”. The constraint, he adds, is that if inoculation is opened across age groups, the vaccine requirement per month will go up to 15 crore, which is far above the monthly production capacity.

The answer, according to him, could be allowing more vaccines in the country.

According to Dr Rajesh Kumar, former Head of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGI, many people below 45 years with comorbidities have succumbed to Covid. “The government should open vaccination for all age groups so that the severity of the disease and hospitalisation goes down. There is circumstantial evidence in some countries of a substantial population being vaccinated and the infection rate declining. However, more evidence is needed to be certain of a vaccine’s role in breaking the transmission.”

40% of infected in 20-40 age group

In the second wave, since February this year, more than 40 per cent of the infected in the tricity fall in the age group of 20 to 40 years.