PM reviews vaccination drive; insists on reducing wastage

The government is helping vaccine manufacturers get more production units, financing and supply of raw materials, the Prime Minister's Officer said on Friday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of the country's COVID-19 vaccination drive.

While reviewing the status of vaccine wastage in various states, Modi said the wastage numbers are still on a higher side and that steps need to be taken to bring them down.

He was briefed by officials about the current availability of vaccines and the roadmap for ramping it up. He was also apprised about the efforts being taken to help various vaccine manufacturers ramp up the production of vaccines.

'Government of India is actively working with vaccine manufacturers ad helping them in terms of facilitating more production units, financing and supply of raw materials,' the PMO said.

The prime minister also took stock of the status of vaccination coverage in healthcare workers as well as frontline workers, besides those in 45-plus and 18-44 years age groups, the PMO said.

Officials also briefed him on various measures being taken on the tech front to make the process of vaccination more people-friendly.

He was briefed on advance visibility being provided to states on vaccine availability, with officials noting that states have been asked to pass on this information to the district level so that there is no inconvenience to people.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal and Information and Broadcast Minister Prakash Javadekar, besides a number of top bureaucrats, attended the meeting, the PMO said.