Union home secy discusses with states possible COVID-19 vaccines roll-out

Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Thursday reviewed with top officials of state governments the arrangements for the roll-out of vaccines when these are available and asked them to prepare a database of frontline workers like police personnel who will be administered on priority, officials said.

The meeting was attended by the Director Generals of Police and other senior officials of the state governments and Union Territory administrations.

The union home secretary reviewed the arrangements for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out and asked the state and UTs to prepare a database of the frontline workers who will receive the vaccine during the initial stages, a home ministry official said.

Bhalla told the state government officials to prepare the database of police, home guards, and civil defence and fire brigade personnel. The meeting came days after three vaccine manufacturers sought emergency approval for rolling out their vaccines.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 28 visited Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune to review the development and manufacturing process of coronavirus vaccines at facilities in these cities.

The central government has been putting in place measures for quick and effective distribution of coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available.

An estimated one crore frontline health workers will also receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine whenever it becomes available, with around 92 per cent of government hospitals and 55 per cent of private hospitals across all states and UTs providing data identifying the workers.

Police's role while enforcing the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown, help provided to the common people and facilitates given to the migrant workers in different parts of the country was praised by all across.

According to an estimate, about 80,000 police and paramilitary personnel were infected by the COVID-19 in the country and over 1,000 of them succumbed to the virus.

Among the infected are about 35,000 paramilitary personnel and 25,000 policemen in Maharashtra, the worst hit state in India. The deaths included 100 paramilitary personnel and about 300 in Maharashtra Police, almost all of them while playing different roles during the pandemic.

India's COVID-19 caseload climbed to 97,67,371 with 31,521 fresh infections, while the total number of recoveries surged to 92.53 lakh, pushing the national recovery rate to 94.74 per cent, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll rose to 1,41,772 with 412 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 92,53,306. 

(Photo Credit: AP)