NEW DELHI: India is about to approve its first Covid-19 vaccine set, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said, while emphasizing the need for a rapid vaccination campaign to cover the priority population, estimated at around 30 million rupees.
Speaking at the 22nd High Level Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting on Covid-19 on Saturday, Vardhan stressed the need to ensure that people follow appropriate Covid behavior, including wearing masks, maintaining distancing physical, hand hygiene and get tested in case symptoms persist.
On Saturday, the total burden of infection cases in India surpassed the one crore mark, although Covid-19 growth has slowed to 2% and the case fatality rate is among the lowest in the world at 1.45 %. “India’s recovery rate has peaked at 95.46%, while the strategy of testing one million samples has reduced the cumulative positivity rate to 6.25%,” Vardhan said.
The minister also stressed that despite the festivals in October and November, no further increase in cases was observed due to the comprehensive testing, monitoring and treatment policy implemented on the ground. The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, S Jaishankar, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep S Puri, the Ministers of State Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Health) and Nityanand Rai (Home). Niti Aayog – Health member VK Paul, who also attended the meeting, informed the Government of Mexico that 12 countries have requested India to supply Covid-19 vaccines.
Speaking at the 22nd High Level Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting on Covid-19 on Saturday, Vardhan stressed the need to ensure that people follow appropriate Covid behavior, including wearing masks, maintaining distancing physical, hand hygiene and get tested in case symptoms persist.
On Saturday, the total burden of infection cases in India surpassed the one crore mark, although Covid-19 growth has slowed to 2% and the case fatality rate is among the lowest in the world at 1.45 %. “India’s recovery rate has peaked at 95.46%, while the strategy of testing one million samples has reduced the cumulative positivity rate to 6.25%,” Vardhan said.
The minister also stressed that despite the festivals in October and November, no further increase in cases was observed due to the comprehensive testing, monitoring and treatment policy implemented on the ground. The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, S Jaishankar, the Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep S Puri, the Ministers of State Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Health) and Nityanand Rai (Home). Niti Aayog – Health member VK Paul, who also attended the meeting, informed the Government of Mexico that 12 countries have requested India to supply Covid-19 vaccines.
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