India may begin vaccination in January; 30 crore people prioritised: Health Minister

As the world continues to battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday spoke about the Coronavirus situation in the country. On being asked if the worst phase of the pandemic is over, the Union Health Minister said, "I also think so. We have just about 3 lakh active cases in the country, whereas a few months ago, there were about 10 lakh active cases in the country."

While drawing a comparison between India and developed countries like US and UK, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that India had so far recorded over 1,00,31,223 cases, out of which more than 95 lakh people have recovered. He further mentioned that India has the highest recovery rate and significantly lowest fatality rate as well. Speaking further, the Minister said that although the worst is over, people should strictly follow all the COVID-19 guidelines. 

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Dr Hardh Vardhan: 'I feel that worst is probably over'

Dr Harsh Vardhan said, "I feel that worst may probably be over, but with a strong note of caution. We need to strictly follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. We can't afford to relax so the major tool against the pandemic will ultimately be masks, hand hygiene and physical distance."

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Health Minister Speaks About Vaccine

Asserting that the Centre's first priority has been always been safety and effectiveness of vaccines and it will not compromise on that, the Health Minister said that India may begin vaccinating people against COVID-19 in January. He also said that the central government has been making preparations at state, District and block levels for the past 4 months. "We have formed a task force at state, district and block levels," he added. 

Highlighting that thousands of master trainers have been trained across the country, Harsh Vardhan said that the government has conducted training at the state level, in which it trained over 20,000 workers in about 260 districts. On being asked if COVID-19 can be eradicated like Polio, he said, "It was scientifically possible to eradicate Polio. Ultimately the pandemic will also subside and we will come across its sporadic occurrences."

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The Union Health Minister during his conversation with ANI informed that after consultation, the centre has prioritized 30 crore people for COVID-19 vaccine. This list of 30 crore people includes health workers, frontline workers like police, military & sanitisation staff, people above 50 years and those who are below 50 years but are suffering from certain diseases. Pointing towards the emergency use authorization request filed by Pfizer, the Minister said that regulators are looking in the matter. 

Claiming that the government aims to vaccinate all the people on the priority list, Harsh Vardhan said that the Centre will address the issue of vaccine hesitancy. "If anyone decides not to take the vaccine, we can't force them," he added. According to the Health Minister, there are currently 9 vaccine candidates in different phases of a clinical trial in India, out of which 6 are under clinical trials and 3 are in the pre-clinical phase.

Earlier on December 2, the UK became the first country in the world to authorise the use of Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency purposes, thus, paving way for the delivery of the vaccines; others have now joined suit.

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