Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that vaccination is the biggest weapon in the fight against coronavirus and urged the doctors to encourage more and more patients to get vaccinated. The Prime Minister, while interacting with doctors across the country through video conferencing on the COVID-19 issue and vaccination progress, appreciated the doctors, medical and para-medical staff for their invaluable service towards the country during the coronavirus pandemic.

PM Modi said, "Last year, during the same time, it was due to our doctors' hard work and the nation's strategy that we were able to control the coronavirus wave. Now that the country is facing the second wave of coronavirus, all the doctors, our frontline workers are confronting the pandemic with full force, and are saving the lives of millions of people." PM Modi said that recently the central government has taken many important decisions related to the supply of essential medicines, injections and sufficient availability of oxygen. State Governments have been given necessary guidelines about these.

The Prime Minister urged the doctors to educate people against several rumours on COVID treatment and prevention. He said, "It is very important that people do not become a victim of panic. For this along with proper treatment, emphasis must also be on counselling of patients admitted in hospitals." He also encouraged doctors to use tele-medicine for treatment of other diseases, in case there is no emergency.

The Prime Minister also noted that this time the pandemic is spreading rapidly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities as well. He urged doctors to connect with their colleagues working in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and give them online consultations to ensure that all protocols are followed correctly. The doctors shared their experiences in dealing with the COVID pandemic during the meeting. They congratulated PM Modi on his leadership in dealing with the pandemic and spoke about how they augmenting healthcare infrastructure. They reiterated the importance of people wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing and stressed about maintaining health infrastructure for non-COVID patients.

The meeting was also attended by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, MoS (Health) Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Mansukh Mandaviya, Principal Secretary to PM, Dr V K Paul Member (H) NITI Aayog, Cabinet Secretary, Union Health Secretary, Union Pharmaceutical Secretary, DG ICMR Dr Balram Bhargava, amongst other officers from Ministries / Departments of Central Government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a virtual meeting with the top pharma companies in the country regarding the situation of the pandemic here.

In the COVID-19 review meeting on April 17, PM Modi had stressed that there is no substitute for testing, tracking and treatment. He also asked the officials to make efforts to utilise the entire national capacity, in the public as well as the private sector, to ramp up vaccine production.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 situation in India continues to deteriorate, as the country yet again reported the highest single-day spike of coronavirus cases with over 2.73 lakh fresh infections and 1,619 deaths in the last 24 hours. According to the Health Ministry, there are currently 19,29,329 active cases in the country as of Monday. The death toll reached 1,78,769. In the last 24 hours, as many as 1,44,178 people recovered from the virus.