Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today chaired a high-level meeting to review the planning and preparations for vaccination against Covid-19, as and when the vaccine is available.

Prime Minister noted that vaccination of India’s vast and diverse population will need to factor in issues including those related to management of medical supply chains, prioritization of at-risk populations, coordination between different agencies involved in the process, as well as the role of private sector and civil society in this national endeavour.

Prime Minister enunciated four guiding principles that will form the foundation of this national effort: first, that vulnerable groups should be identified and prioritized for early vaccination, for example, doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, non-medical frontline Corona warriors, and vulnerable people among the general population; second, that vaccination of “anyone, anywhere” should take place, ie without the imposition of any domicile related restrictions for getting the vaccine; third, that vaccination must be affordable and universal - no person should be left behind; and fourth, that the entire process from production to vaccination should be monitored and supported in real-time with the use of technology.

PM directed officials to evaluate in a broad manner available technology options that can form the backbone of the national endeavor to vaccinate all in the most efficient and timely manner.

Prime Minister directed that detailed planning for such large scale vaccination should be undertaken immediately.

The current status of vaccine development efforts was also reviewed at the meeting. Prime Minister highlighted India’s commitment to play an enabling role in the vaccination efforts against Covid-19.

Meanwhile, collective and focussed efforts for containment and management of COVID-19 by the Government of India along with the States/UTs have led to the recovery rate among COVID-19 patients fast approaching 60%. As on date, there are 1,19,696 more recovered patients than COVID-19 active cases. Also, while there are 2,15,125 active cases, all under active medical supervision, 3,34,821 patients have been cured/discharged. This has resulted in the recovery rate amongst COVID-19 patients further improving to 59.07%. During the last 24 hours, a total of 13,099 COVID-19 patients have been cured. The number of diagnostic labs is continuously increasing. India now has 1049 diagnostic labs dedicated to COVID-19. These include 761 labs in the government sector and 288 private labs.