During his meeting with chief ministers and representatives of various states to review India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic on November 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a number of observations and put out more information about the country’s vaccination strategy.
Here are some of the key things PM Modi said about the vaccination process:
> PM Modi said that the distribution strategy for COVID-19 vaccines will be chalked out in 'collective coordination' with the states.
> He said states should have a Steering Committee on vaccines and that distribution should be done according to scientific parameters. The prime minister also urged states to focus on adding more cold storage facilities.
> PM Modi said that the development of potential vaccines was being monitored closely and that the Centre was in touch with global regulators, companies and other governments.
“The Government of India is keeping a track of each development in vaccine development. We are in touch with Indian vaccine developers and manufacturers. We are also in touch with global regulators, governments of other countries, multinational organisations and international companies,” PM Modi said.
COVID-19 Vaccine Watch: What you need to know about manufacturing and pricing
> The prime minister said that it is still not clear whether there will be one, two or three doses of a vaccine given to the masses. The pricing of the vaccine has also not been decided yet, he said. “We still don't have answers to these questions,” PM Modi added.
Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the coronavirus pandemic
As of November 24, India’s COVID-19 tally stood at 91.7 lakh. Of these, 86 lakh patients had recovered. While there were 4.3 lakh ‘active’ cases, the country’s death toll from the outbreak had risen to 1.3 lakh.
While India has reported less than 50,000 daily COVID-19 cases for some time now, some states are showing resurgence in the number of infections.
The prime minister added that while the country has been able to leave behind the worst phase of COVID-19, a rising number of cases remains a cause of concern in some states.
Click here for Moneycontrol’s full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic