PM Narendra Modi reveals Centre's plan regarding distribution of COVID-19 vaccine

Amid the rising coronavirus COVID-19 cases in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (October 19) hinted that the Centre will use digital health ID to ensure immunisation against the deadly viral disease.

Addressing the inaugural function of the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting 2020, PM Modi said, “…India is now at the forefront of vaccine development for Covid-19. Some of them are in advanced stages. We are not stopping here; India is already working on putting a well-established vaccine delivery system in place. This digitised network, along with the digital health ID, will be used to ensure immunisation of our citizens.”

PM Modi also talked about the reputation of India at global level when it comes to vaccine manufacturing. “Beyond Covid too, India is known for its proven capacity to produce vaccines at a low cost. More than 60 per cent of the vaccines for global immunisation are being manufactured in India. We included the indigenous Rotavirus vaccine in our Indradhanush immunisation programme. This is a successful example of a strong partnership for long-lasting results. The Gates Foundation has also been a part of this effort,” he said.

Read: Bill Gates calls India 'inspiring', makes big announcement about availability of COVID-19 vaccine

“With India’s experience and research talent, we will be at the centre of global health care efforts. We want to help other nations, enhance their capacities, in these sectors,” added the prime minister.

The prime minister aserted that disease does not discriminate on grounds of religion or race and people across the world must join hands to tackle COVID-19. “..It has taken a global pandemic to make us realise, yet again, the importance of teamwork. After all, disease does not have geographic boundaries; disease does not discriminate on the grounds of faith, race, gender, or colour,” he said.

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Meanwhile, India saw a large dip in new COVID-19 infecion with less than 50,000 cases being reported in the last 24 hours. As per the Ministry of health data, India recorded 46,791 new COVID-19 cases. The total coronavirus cases in India now stands at 75,97,064 which includes 7,48,538 active cases and 67,33,329 cured/discharged/migrated  cases. T