Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured citizens that everyone in the country will be inoculated once a vaccine for the highly-infectious coronavirus becomes available. "No one will be left behind," the prime minister said in an interview with the Economic Times.
"I would like to assure the nation that, as and when a vaccine becomes available, everyone will be vaccinated. None will be left behind. Of course, initially we may focus on protecting the most vulnerable and the frontline workers," Modi said. The prime minister said a National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 vaccine has been constituted to chart the way forward.
"We should also realise that vaccine development is still work in progress. Trials are on. Experts can' say what the vaccine will be, its dosage per person, periodicity or how it's to be administered etc. All this, when finalised by experts, will also guide our approach on taking the vaccine to citizens," he said in the interview.
Modi exuded confidence on making the vaccine reach every person in India immediately. "On logistics, more than 28,000 cold chain points will store and distribute COVID-19 vaccines to ensure they reach the last point. Dedicated teams at state, district and local levels will see to it that the vaccine distribution and administration is done in a systematic and accountable manner," he said. The prime minister also informed that a digital platform was being prepared to enroll, track and reach the beneficiaries.
Striking a note of caution, Modi said there is no room for complacency. "The virus is proving to be very fickle. At one time, some places like Gujarat were seen as hot spots while the situation seemed to be under control in Kerala, Karnataka etc. After a few months, things have improved in Gujarat but turning for the worse in Kerala. This is why I feel there is no room for complacency. I stressed the same in my recent message to the nation on October 20 that the only way forward is to take precautions such as wearing mask, hand washing and social distancing because jab tak dawai nahin, tab tak dhilai nahin," he said.
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 caseload surpassed the 80-lakh mark on Thursday with 49,881 new cases. The recoveries surged to 73.15 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 90.99 per cent, the Union Health Ministry data showed.
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