Coronavirus vaccine expected by March; senior citizens, healthcare workers will be given priority: Harsh Vardhan

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on September 13 said that he will volunteer to be the first one to get COVID-19 vaccine shot to allay fears regarding the safety of the vaccines.  "I will be the first to offer myself for receiving COVID-19 vaccine if people have a trust deficit (in it)," Vardhan said during an online interaction under the programme 'Sunday Samvad'.

While the precise date is not known yet, Vardhan said that COVID-19 vaccine may be ready by the first quarter of 2021. He also said that the government is planning to authorise emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine and a consensus on the matter is likely soon.

Also Read: Government discussing emergency use authorisation of COVID-19 vaccine: Union Health Minister

"A consensus on emergency authorisation for COVID-19 vaccine is likely soon," he said, adding that frontline healthcare workers, senior citizens and persons with comorbidities will be given priority.

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The Health Minister further said that the government is taking full precautions while conducting human trials of the coronavirus vaccine. Additionally, the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19, under the Chairmanship of Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, is drawing up a detailed strategy on how to immunise majority of the population, he said.

“Issues like vaccine security, cost, equity, cold-chain requirements, production timelines are being discussed intensely," he stated adding that the vaccine will be first made available to those who need it the most, irrespective of their paying capacity.

India's COVID-19 caseload on September 13 mounted to 47,54,356 with 94,372 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 78,586 with 1,114 people succumbing to the infection in a span of 24 hours. Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state by the pandemic followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Also Read: Health Ministry issues SOPs for skill training institutes, technical programmes of higher educational institutes

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on September 13 issued standard operating procedures (SOP) for skill training institutions and higher education institutions conducting courses in technical programmes requiring lab work.

In the SOP for conducting teaching activities in the classroom, it mandated a distance of 6 ft between chairs and desks, and that classroom activities should be staggered with separate time slots.

According to the SOP released, academic scheduling should have a mix of regular classroom teaching, online teaching or assessments. Sharing of laptops, notebook, stationery etc among students has also been disallowed.

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