Cabinet Secy discusses with states possible Covid-19 vaccine roll-out

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Tuesday reviewed with top officials of states the arrangements for the roll-out of vaccines after these are available and asked them to prepare a database of people like health workers who will be administered on priority, officials said.

The meeting was attended by chief secretaries, health secretaries and other senior officials of the states and union territories.

The cabinet secretary reviewed the arrangements for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out and asked the state and union territories to prepare a database of the prioritised group of people who will receive the vaccine during the initial stages, a government official said.

The meeting came three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune to review the development and manufacturing process of coronavirus vaccines at facilities in these cities.

The central government has been putting in place measures for quick and effective distribution of coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available.

As many as five vaccine candidates are in advanced stages of development. While four are in Phase II-III and one is in Phase-I-II trials.

An estimated one crore frontline health workers will receive the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine whenever it becomes available, with around 92 per cent of government hospitals and 55 per cent of private hospitals across all states and union territories providing data identifying the workers.

The government has also called an all-party meeting to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic situation on December 4 that will be chaired by Modi. The issue of vaccination is also expected to be discussed in the meeting.

India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 94.62 lakh with November registering over 30 per cent decline in both new deaths and cases as compared to October, while total recoveries surged to 88,89,585, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The total coronavirus cases mounted to 94,62,809 with 31,118 new infections, while the death toll climbed to 1,37,621 after 482 more fatalities were reported, the data updated at 8 am showed.

New infections due to COVID-19 started to decline steadily since the first week of October.

A total 12,78,727 cases were reported in November, a decrease from October's 18,71,498, accounting for about 13.51 per cent of the total instances of the viral infection reported in the country so far.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 88,89,585, pushing the national recovery rate to 93.94 per cent. The COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent.

The active COVID-19 caseload remained below five lakh for the 21st consecutive day.

There are 4,35,603 active cases in the country which comprise 4.60 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.