Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with chief ministers of all the states on January 11 to discuss the coronavirus situation and the rollout of the vaccine against the infection, his office said on Friday.
“At 4 PM on Monday 11th January, PM Narendra Modi will interact with Chief Ministers of all states via video conferencing,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted. “They will discuss the Covid-19 situation and the vaccination rollout.”
The announcement for the meeting came after the Union Health Ministry conducted two dry runs for the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, one earlier in the day and the first on January 2. Following Friday’s dry run, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that the coronavirus vaccine will be provided “in the next few days”, after prioritising risk groups. He reiterated that the first to be inoculated will be healthcare professionals and frontline workers.
“The government has already made known the scheme of things,” the health minister said. “Lakhs of healthcare workers are being trained through these dry runs, and the process to train more is still going on.” Vardhan also asserted that India had done extremely well in developing vaccines in the “shortest possible time”.
Last week, the Drugs Controller General of India had approved coronavirus vaccines of the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country.
Meanwhile, India reported 18,139 new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking its tally to 1,04,13,417. The toll rose by 234 to 1,50,570, and the number of active cases in the country stood at 2,25,449.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!