PM Modi assured that COVID vaccine to be distributed in four stages: Gujarat CM

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday said that when available, the COVID-19 vaccine would be distributed in four stages, beginning with frontline health workers.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rup on Tuesday said that when available, the COVID-19 vaccine would be distributed in four stages, beginning with frontline health workers.

Speaking at a press conference here, Rup said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that in the following stages, police personnel, station workers and other agency workers would be vaccinated.

"Today, the PM talked about the distribution of the COVID vaccine and is really worried about the people of our country. The vaccine will be distributed in four steps. It will first be distributed to frontline health workers like doctors, nurses," he said.

"In the second step, we will distribute it to the other workers like police officers, station workers and other agency workers. In the third step, we will distribute it to the people over the age of 50, and in the fourth step, seriously ill people will get it," Rup added.

This comes after the Prime Minister spoke to several Chief Ministers over the deteriorating pandemic situation in their states earlier in the day.

"The government is keeping a close track of vaccine development. We are in touch with Indian vaccine developers and manufacturers. We are also in touch with global regulators, governments of other countries, multinational orgsations, and international compes. It is not certain whether there will be one, two, or three doses," PM Modi had said at the meeting.

As per the Union Health Ministry, there are currently 13,836 active COVID-19 cases in Gujarat.

So far, 1,81,187 recoveries and 3,876 deaths have been reported from the state. Meanwhile, India reported 37,975 new COVID-19 infections and 480 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total cases in the country now stands at 91,77,841 including 86,04,955 recoveries and 4,38,667 active cases. With 480 new deaths, the cumulative toll reached 1,34,218.

( With inputs from ANI )