Centre has provided more than 15 crore doses to the states free of cost: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired high-level meeting on Covid-19 situation with Chief Ministers of 11 states and Union Territories which have reported maximum number of cases in recently on 23 April.

PM Modi assured Centre’s full support to all the states and in this fight. He added that the Ministry of Health is also in touch with the states and is monitoring the situation closely and issuing necessary advices to the states from time to time.

He remarked that India is running the world’s largest vaccination programme and so far, more than 15 crore vaccine doses have been provided free of cost to the states by the Government of India. He also said that that the vaccination programme should not slowdown in this situation.

He said that the campaign launched by the Central Government to provide free vaccine to all citizens above 45 years as well has Health-Care workers & Front-Line workers, will also continue in the same manner.

From May 1, PM Modi added, the vaccine is going to be available to all citizens above 18 years of age.

Earlier, a presentation was given by Dr VK Paul, which highlighted the preparations being done to counter the new surge of infections. He also presented the roadmap for increasing the medical facilities and targeted treatment of patients.

Dr Paul briefed  everyone about Boosting of Medical infrastructure, teams and supplies; Clinical Management; Containment; Vaccination & Community engagement.

During the interaction, Chief Ministers of states briefed the PM about the steps being taken by respective State Governments in the current wave. They also noted that the directions given by the PM and the road map presented by NITI would help them plan their responses in a better way.