PM chairs all-party meet on COVID-19 as India’s active caseload dips

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs an all-party meeting on COVID-19 situation on Friday, India’s total case tally rose to 95,71,559 with 36,594 new infections (as of December 3). The death toll rose to 1,39,188 with 540 new deaths. The total active cases in the country stood at 4,16,082.

India’s active caseload continued to decline at 4.35 per cent on Friday (December 4), Union Health Ministry said. The trend of more recoveries than the new cases has led to a continuous contraction of India’s active caseload.

The Prime Minister is interacting with political parties on the pandemic and related challenges, including vaccine rollout. Floor leaders of both Houses of Parliament have been invited for the virtual meeting.

The meeting comes close on the heels of the prime minister’s visits to COVID-19 vaccine hubs in Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

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Government sources say India wants to be self-reliant in both development and production of COVID vaccine. While at least five pharmaceutical companies of India are engaged in vaccine development, Serum Institute in Pune has been chosen for mass production of Covishield developed by Oxford-Astra Zeneca.

Meanwhile, drug maker Zydus Cadila said on Friday (December 4) that it has got approval from Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to start phase-3 trials of its biological therapy PegiHep among COVID patients.

The Centre says it has initiated a robust vaccine manufacturing and delivery ecosystem to meet the demand. The government has already announced a stimulus package of ₹900 crore for ‘Mission Covid Suraksha’ to promote indigenous vaccine development. This grant will go to the Department of Biotechnology for Research and Development of Indian COVID-19 vaccines and ensure that they are fast-tracked for introduction in public health systems, subject to regulatory clearances.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body to monitor the pandemic, said that as of December 3, as many as 14,47,27,749 samples have been tested across the country. The testing count on December 3 was 11,70,102.

AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said on Thursday that emergency-use authorization for a vaccine was likely by December-end or early next month.

The national capital on Thursday reported less than 4,000 cases. “We have the capacity to vaccinate Delhi’s population in a few weeks’ time, through mohalla clinics, polyclinics, dispensaries, hospitals, when vaccines are provided to us,” said Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

Delhi saw a surge in COVID-19 cases last month. The capital city on Thursday conducted 75,230 tests across 11 districts. The tests included 33,298 RT-PCR tests which are considered most accurate diagnostic tests for COVID-19. It also conducted 41,932 rapid antigen tests.

Also read: Explainer: What is the emergency authorisation for COVID vaccine