Covid vaccination of all eligible children at earliest priority: PM Modi

Covid vaccination of all eligible children at the earliest is a priority for the government and specialised programmes will need to be conducted for it in schools, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an interaction with chief ministers on the emerging COVID-19 situation in the country, Modi asserted that it is clear that the threat of coronavirus is not fully gone yet.

Citing rise in COVID-19 cases in some states in the last two weeks, he said there was a need to remain alert.

"Our scientists and experts are continuously monitoring the national and global situation. We have to work on their suggestions with a pre-emptive, pro-active and collective approach," he said.

Stopping the infection at the very beginning has been our priority as well and it should remain the same even today.

"We have to implement our strategy of Test, Track and Treat equally effectively. In the current situation of coronavirus, it is necessary that we have 100 per cent RT-PCR test for patients admitted in hospitals who are serious influenza cases.

Asserting that vaccine is the biggest protective shield against the virus, Modi said Covid vaccination of all eligible children at the earliest is a priority for the government and specialised programmes will need to be conducted in schools.

He said awareness of parents and children is very important in this regard.

His remarks come a day after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said India's drug regulator has granted restricted emergency use authorisation for Biological E's COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax for those aged five to 12 years and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children in the age group of six to 12 years.

Modi also called for scaling up infrastructure and manpower at medical colleges and district hospitals

Several chief ministers, including West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee, Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel, Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab's Bhagwant Mann, participated in the interaction.

India recorded 2,927 fresh infections in a day which pushed the case tally to 4,30,65,496 while the active caseload increased to 16,279, according to Union Health Ministry data on Wednesday.

The death toll has climbed to 5,23,654 with 32 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.