EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
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PM Modi is expected to hold two back-to-back meetings, one with eight states with high caseloads and another with states and UTs to discuss vaccine distribution strategy
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Modi, till now, has held several virtual meetings with states over the coronavirus situation
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with chief minsters, other representatives of states to review the COVID-19 situation and discuss vaccine distribution strategy tomorrow, via video conferencing, officials said Monday.
According to reports, PM Modi is expected to hold two back-to-back meetings, one with eight states with high caseloads and another with states and UTs to discuss vaccine distribution strategy, sources said.
The prime minister, till now, has held several virtual meetings with states over the coronavirus situation.
While the national daily COVID-19 case count has remained below 50,000 for some time, several urban centres have witnessed a surge, resulting in enforcement of several measures, including curfews in some cities.
The central government has also been putting in place measures for quick and effective distribution of coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available.
Five vaccine candidates are in advanced stages of development in India, out of which four are in Phase II/III and one is in Phase-I/II trials.
In regard to vaccine production in the country, Union Minister Harsh VArdhan on Sunday said that a locally-developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate could complete its final trials in a month or two, raising hopes for a rapid roll-out in a country with the world’s second highest number of infections.
The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and privately-held Bharat Biotech this month started third-stage trials of COVAXIN, in a process that would involve 26,000 volunteers. It is the most advanced Indian experimental vaccine.
“We are in the process of developing our indigenous vaccines, in the process of completing our third-phase trials in the next one or two months,” Harsh Vardhan told a web conference on the pandemic.
Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 caseload went past 91 lakh with 44,059 coronavirus infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,33,738 with 511 new fatalities, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.
