Chhattisgarh CM urges Centre to make available free COVID-19 vaccine on a priority basis

On Wednesday, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that the COVID-19 vaccine is made available to the state on a priority basis. Citing that Chhattisgarh is a tribal-dominated state, he added that the vaccines should be provided free of cost. Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending co-operation towards Chhattisgarh, Baghel mentioned that there is a state of fear among people owing to the COVID-19 crisis.

In the letter to the PM, he maintained that it was the main responsibility of the government to ensure the mental and physical well-being of every citizen. Observing that vaccination is extremely essential to stop COVID-19 cases and associated deaths, the Congress leader added that Chhattisgarh is ready to roll out the COVID-19 vaccination programme. According to him, the police force, Urban Development department personnel, frontline workers of the Gram Panchayat department and media persons can be involved in carrying out this exercise apart from the health workers. 

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PM Modi review vaccine development

PM Modi undertook a three-city tour on November 28 to conduct an extensive review of the vaccine development and manufacturing process. He visited the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad and Serum Institute of India in Pune. Expressing pride in the fact that India's indigenous vaccine development has progressed at a rapid pace, he asked the scientists for their suggestions to enhance the vaccine distribution process. 

While the phase I trials of Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D vaccine have been completed, the phase II trials were initiated in August. On the other hand, the Covaxin vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Covishield vaccine is in phase III trials stage. Speaking after the PM's visit, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla revealed that they will apply for the emergency authorization of the vaccine in the next two weeks. 

Read: As UK Approves Pfizer-BioNtech's COVID-19 Vaccine, Here's Who Will Get Vaccinated First

COVID-19 crisis in India

Currently, there are 94,99,413 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India out of which 89,32,647 patients have been discharged and 1,38,122 fatalities have been reported. There are 4,28,644 active cases in the country. With 43,062 patients recovering from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the national recovery rate has surged to 94.03 percent. The number of daily recovered cases has surpassed the daily new cases for the past 5 days.

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