COVID-19 meeting: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with top ministers of 8 states to discuss Covid, vaccine: 10 points

“Safety is as important to us as speed, any vaccine that India gives to its citizens will be safe by all scientific standards. The vaccine distribution strategy will be defined in collective coordination with the states. The states must also begin to implement working in cold storage facilities, “said the prime minister. Modi said amid reports that the Oxford vaccine shows 90 percent efficacy in late-stage trials. The vaccine maker Serum Institute of India has promised 50 percent of all doses for the domestic market.

Warning states not to allow laxity to enter, Prime Minister Modi asked them to work to bring the positive rate to less than 5% and the death rate to less than 1%. “We need to accelerate our efforts to reduce the transmission of the virus. Testing, confirmation, contact tracing and data must be given the highest priority,” he said.

“PM clarified that in the first stage the vaccine will be administered to first-line health workers, in the second stage to police personnel, sanitation workers, etc., to those over 50 in the third stage and to those who they have morbid co-conditions in the fourth stage, “said Gujarat’s Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

Chief ministers from the eight states most affected by Covid – Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh – attended today’s meeting.

Rajasthan’s chief minister, Ashok Gehlot, said his state has phased out rapid antigen tests whose results are often inaccurate. All the Covid tests carried out in the state are RT-PCR and the number has touched more than 30,000 every day. Rajasthan said it is taking other precautions as well, including a ban on crackers, the law on wearing masks, a night curfew and a restriction on gatherings.

Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attributed the current increase in Covid cases to air pollution and called for the prime minister’s intervention to stop the burning of stubble in neighboring states. “The high severity of the third wave is due to many factors. Pollution is a major factor,” Kejriwal told the meeting.

At the meeting, the prime minister also attacked Rahul Gandhi in Congress, who recently criticized the government on the vaccine issue. Without naming him, Prime Minister Modi accused him of “playing politics,” the sources said. “We cannot decide when the vaccine will arrive. It is not in our hands. It is the scientists who are grappling with the issue,” the sources said, citing Prime Minister Modi. “Some people are playing politics because of that. Nothing can stop someone from playing politics,” he added.

Delhi, where Covid cases have risen since the last week of October, recorded 4,454 cases in the last 24 hours due to the usual low number of tests over the weekend. The number of deaths in the national capital touched an all-time high of 121, bringing the total number of deaths to 8,512. This is the sixth time in the past 12 days that the daily death toll has crossed the 100 mark.

Before today’s meetings, Prime Minister Modi had issued instructions for an action plan with a time limit for speedy regulatory clearances and timely acquisitions for the early launch of the vaccination campaign. The government is building a database of frontline and healthcare workers, acquiring syringes, needles, and increasing the cold chain and transport mechanism.

The country recorded 37,975 new COVID-19 infections over 24 hours, 13 percent less than yesterday’s figures, government data showed this morning. The country also reported 480 Covid-related deaths in this period, marginally lower than yesterday’s 511. The overall coronavirus count is now 91.77 lakh, with 1.34,218 deaths.