Group of Ministers takes stock of vaccine plan: ‘9.4 cr doses administered’

The Group of Ministers (GoM) on Covid-19, during a high-level meeting held Friday, were apprised of the action taken to increase the capacity of existing vaccines as well as the timeline of vaccines undergoing clinical trials, the Health Ministry said.

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan chaired the 24th GoM, which was also attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.

At the meeting, Harsh Vardhan said, “More than 3 crore vaccinations have been administered to 60 plus beneficiaries, and more than 9.43 crore doses have been given till 9 am today. India has also supported the global community through Vaccine Maitri, under which 6.45 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been exported to 85 countries. 3.58 crore doses have been supplied to 25 countries under commercial contracts, 1.04 crore to 44 countries as grants and 1.82 crore to 39 Countries under COVAX.”

A detailed presentation on the status of Covid-19 in the top 11 high-burden states in the country was made during the meeting.

“…Eleven states together contribute to 54 per cent of the total cases and 65 per cent of the total deaths in the country. Disproportionately higher deaths in Maharashtra and Punjab have further increased during the last 14 days (64 per cent of the total deaths in the country). Starting February 2021, a steep increase in cases observed in all the 11 states,” the Health Ministry said.

Harsh Vardhan said, “…With a renewed focus on collective efforts for effective adherence of the Health Ministry’s SOPs for containment and management of Covid, and individual discipline in following oft disseminated Covid appropriate behaviour, India shall be able to overcome the recent surge.”

The Health Minister further highlighted that that there have been no fresh Covid-19 cases in 149 districts over the past week, 8 districts have reported no new cases in the last 14 days; 3 districts in the last 21 days and 63 districts in the last 28 days.