PM Modi to hold review meet on districts with low COVID vaccination

Amid a fresh global surge in COVID cases, PM Narendra Modi is set to have a virtual meeting with officials of districts where vaccination coverage is low.

The meeting will include districts with less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of Covid vaccine, a notification from the PMO said on Sunday.

“Prime Minister will interact with District Magistrates of over 40 districts in Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, and other States with districts having low vaccination coverage. Chief Ministers of these States will also be present on the occasion,” it said.

India last week administered its billionth COVID vaccine dose, an achievement that was hailed by the PM, but concerns have risen over the viral disease again as a new COVID variant is in circulation ahead of the festive season.

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Government figures show that about three-quarters of adults in India have had one shot and 30 per cent are fully vaccinated. India plans to fully vaccinate its adult population by the year-end.

PM Modi emphasised at the G20 summit in Rome on Saturday that India has administered one billion doses and is ready to produce over 5 billion vaccine doses by the end of next year to help the world fight the pandemic.

On Sunday, active COVID cases in India slumped to 1,59,273, the lowest in 247 days, as the country reported 12,830 new cases. The daily spike takes India’s caseload to 3,42,73,300. The active cases comprise 0.46 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.20 per cent, the health ministry said.