DW BUREAU / Chandigarh Punjab CM Amarinder Singh on Friday asked officials to be ready to vaccinate priority groups in the 18-44 age category from Monday as the state is expected to receive one lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine over the weekend. The vaccination of priority groups identified by the state government for Phase III should start as soon as the doses arrive, the chief minister said in a statement. The state government has identified construction workers, teachers, government employees and those with co-morbidities in the 18-44 age group for priority vaccination. Earlier, the state government had deferred the Phase III of vaccination, which was slated to begin on May 1, due to "non-availability" of the vaccine. The chief minister, who was chairing a virtual review meeting, directed all government employees, except those with medical problems, to get themselves vaccinated. While the Labour Department will coordinate vaccination of construction workers and their families, to be funded by the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, the deputy commissioners have been asked to coordinate the vaccination of government employees. Vaccination of those with co-morbidity will be planned by the DCs. The state government had ordered 30 lakh vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India for the Phase III vaccination and the Centre has allocated 3.30 lakh against this order to Punjab for this month, the CM said. The chief minister also directed the chief secretary to explore the use of some components of the state's World Bank loan for purchase of 10,000 oxygen concentrators, along with tankers and vaccines. Amarinder Singh expressed gratitude to the organisations sending aid to the state to support its fight against the second wave of the pandemic. He informed that besides the TATA Group, which is sending 500 oxygen concentrators, an additional 200 are being sent by Tata Memorial Hospital. Amarinder Singh directed Health Minister Balbir Sidhu and Medical Education Minister O P Soni to explore the possibility of providing chemotherapy to cancer patients in the Bathinda Civil Hospital while the cancer hospital in the district continues to be utilised as Level 3 facility for COVID patients. The directive came after the health minister raised concerns over the problems caused to cancer patients as a result of the hospital being taken over as a COVID facility by the administration. While endorsing the decision in the absence of any other Level 3 facility in Bathinda, the chief minister said some alternative arrangement should be made for the cancer patients, who require regular pain management. Earlier, Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan said 25 beds at the hospital had been taken over for COVID-19, as the Bathinda AIIMS was not available for Level 3 treatment and there was no other such facility available to cater to southern Punjab with critical patients having to travel to Ludhiana or Patiala for treatment. There are 40 cancer patients, who visit the cancer hospital and are administered treatment in a completely separate area, with a separate entry and exit, posing no risk to them on account of COVID, she said. (editor@dailyworld.in)