PM Modi calls for speedy access to Covid-19 vaccines for citizens

Chairing a meeting to review the Covid-19 pandemic situation in the country and the preparedness of vaccine delivery, distribution, and administration, the PM directed that keeping in view the geographical span and diversity of the country, the access to the vaccine should be ensured speedily.

Addressing the meeting, attended by Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Principal Secretary to PM, Member (Health) NITI Aayog, Principal Scientific Advisor, Senior Scientists, officers of PMO, and other Departments of the Government, the Prime Minister stressed that every step in the logistics, delivery, and administration should be put in place rigorously.

It must include advanced planning of cold storage chains, distribution network, monitoring mechanism, advance assessment, and preparation of ancillary equipment required, such as vials, syringes etc.

The Prime Minister noted the steady decline in the daily Covid-19 cases and growth rate.

Three vaccines are in advanced stages of development in India, out of which two are in Phase II and one is in Phase-III.

Indian Scientists and Research Teams are collaborating and strengthening the research capacities in neighbouring countries viz., Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

There are further requests from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Qatar and Bhutan for clinical trials in their countries.

In an effort to help the global community, the Prime Minister further directed that there should be no limit to the efforts to the immediate neighbourhood but also must reach out to the entire world in providing vaccines, medicines and IT platforms for the vaccine delivery system.

He further directed that they make use of experience of successful conduct of elections and disaster management in the country.

The Prime Minister said that in a similar manner vaccine delivery and administration systems should be put in place. This should involve the participation of States / UTs / District Level functionaries, civil society organisations, volunteers, citizens, and experts from all necessary domains.

The entire process should have a strong IT backbone and the system should be designed in such a manner so as to have a lasting value to our healthcare system.

The Prime Minister cautioned against complacency at the decline in Covid cases and called for keeping up efforts to contain the pandemic.

He insisted on continued social distancing, Covid-19 appropriate behaviour such as wearing the mask, regularly washing hands and sanitation etc. especially in the wake of the upcoming festival season.

National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) in consultation with state governments and all relevant stakeholders have prepared and presented a detailed blueprint of vaccine storage, distribution, and administration. The Expert Group in consultation with the states is working actively on vaccine prioritization and distribution.

Two pan-India studies on the Genome of SARSCoV-2 (Covid-19 virus) in India conducted by ICMR and D/o Bio-Technology (DBT) suggest that the virus is genetically stable and there is no major mutation in the virus.