Coronavirus vaccine | Centre looking at priority group of 300 million, not entire population for COVID-19 vaccination: Dr VK Paul

Dr Vinod K Paul, Head of the National COVID-19 Task Force. (PC- File)

The head of the National COVID-19 Task Force, Dr Vinod K Paul on January 1 said that the Centre is currently looking at priority group of 300 million and not the entire population for vaccination against the disease.

The National COVID-19 Task Force chief made the comments while speaking to CNBC-TV18 even as the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) recommended emergency use authorisation (EUA) "with conditions" for Serum Institute of India's (SII) Covishield vaccine, sources said.

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"India has decided that it will pitch for 300 million individuals," Dr Paul told the news channel in an exclusive interview, adding that the immediate phase will begin with nationwide vaccination of healthcare workers.

Elaborating on the details of the vaccination plan, Dr Paul said that there are 31 hubs to supply vaccines to all the states and they will supply jabs to 29,000 vaccination points in last mile delivery. He also said that financial resources are not a constraint to vaccinate people.

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Among other details, the senior official said that the Union government is currently looking at vaccination effort as a holistic public health response and has chosen higher risk groups since the Centre wants to minimise COVID-related deaths.

Dr Paul said that the government's main goal is to stall the spread to COVID-19 transmission and ensure the entire nation has herd immunity, though for that wider vaccination will be required.

Stating that the whole lot of preparation has already been instituted throughout the country for vaccination, Dr Paul said, "licensure is the main limiting factor," adding the government, industry and other stakeholders are working as one team.

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On the issue on approval of SII's Covishield vaccine, Dr Paul said, "(We are) definitely at an inflection point with respect to Covishield approval.... We are close to a decision point on Covishield approval."

"Bharat Biotech vaccine is a very promising vaccine... Expert group will take a call with respect to its review," he added.

Meanwhile, the Union government has identified over 2.30 lakh vaccinators to vaccinate the beneficiaries. Apart from this, over 51,000 public health facilities have been shortlisted for the vaccine rollout.

The Centre has said that on January 2, a dry run for COVID-19 vaccination will be conducted by all state and Union Territory administrations to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify challenges.

Three firms -- SII, Bharat Biotech, and Pfizer -- have already applied to the DCGI seeking emergency use authorisation for their COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Currently, six vaccines are at various stages of clinical trials, out of which four are being ingenuously developed.