The Centre estimates to receive and utilise 40-50 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine covering 20-25 crore people by July next year and it is preparing a format for the states to submit by October-end their list of priority population to be inoculated, the Health Minister said on October 4.

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He said priority would be given to health workers engaged in COVID-19 management in getting inoculated and asserted the Centre would ensure fair and equitable distribution of vaccines, once they are ready. During an interaction with his social media followers on 'Sunday Samvad' platform, the Health Minister said vaccine procurement would be done centrally with each consignment tracked real-time until delivery to ensure it reaches those who need it the most and there is no black-marketing.

A high-level expert group is going into all aspects of vaccines and the health ministry is currently preparing a format in which states will submit lists of priority population groups to receive a vaccine, the Union minister said. The list of frontline health workers will include both government as well as private-sector doctors, nurses, paramedics, sanitary staff, ASHA workers, surveillance officers and many other occupational categories who are involved in tracing, testing and treatment of patients. This exercise is targeted to be completed by the end of this October and the states are being closely guided to also submit details about cold chain facilities and other related infrastructure which will be required down to the block level, the Health Minister said. "The Centre is also working on plans for building capacities in human resources, training, supervision and others on a massive scale and roughly estimates to receive and utilise 400-500 million doses covering approximately 20-25 crore people by July 2021. All this is under various stages of finalisation," he said.

The minister had earlier said a COVID-19 vaccine is likely to be available by the first quarter of 2021. During the 'Sunday Samvad' programme, he informed his audience that the government is also keeping an eye on immunity data concerning COVID-19 disease while finalising these plans. "Our government is working round the clock to ensure that there is a fair and equitable distribution of vaccines, once they are ready. Our utmost priority is how to ensure a vaccine for each and everybody in the country," the Health Minister said. He added that a high-level committee under the chairmanship of Niti Aayog Member (Health) Dr V K Paul is drawing up the entire process.

The minister said the panel is working on understanding the timelines of availability of various vaccines in the country, obtaining commitments from vaccine manufacturers to make the maximum number of doses available for India, inventory and supply chain management and also on prioritisation of high-risk groups. "This is a work in progress which will be completed by the time the vaccines are ready to ensure the swift roll-out of an immunisation programme."

Assuring a social media follower that there would be no diversion or black-marketing of the vaccine, the Health Minister said, "Vaccines will be distributed as per pre-decided priority and in a programmed manner. To ensure transparency and accountability, details of the entire process will be shared in the coming months." To a question regarding the phase-three clinical trial of Russia's 'Sputnik-V' vaccine in India, the Health Minister clarified that the matter was still under consideration, and no decision has been taken yet.

To another question, he replied it is not possible to comment on the superiority of one vaccine over another, but it would be ensured that "even if we have multiple vaccines, they will all be safe and will elicit the requisite immune response against coronavirus." He said all vaccines that have proven to be safe, immunogenic and efficacious in clinical trials outside India need to undergo bridging studies to prove their safety and immunogenicity in the Indian population as well, although those can be conducted with much smaller sample size and can end quickly. Informing his audience that adverse events after vaccination are common, he said such events include local reactions such as pain at the injection site, mild fever and redness and anxiety such as palpitations, syncope or fainting.

These reactions are transient, self-limiting and do not affect the protective response of the vaccine, the minister said. Detailing the ethical concerns of Human Challenge Experiments and the Health Minister said, "India is not planning to venture into such trials until the method is proven to have an established benefit as per global experience." Sharing his views on single-dose versus double-dose vaccines, he accepted that for quick control of a pandemic, it is desirable to have a single-dose vaccine, the statement said. "However, it is often difficult to achieve desired levels of immune protection using a single dose. Two-dose vaccines are suitable for attaining the desired immunogenicity as the first one gives some immune protection, and the second one augments it further."

Answering a question about the upcoming festive season, the Health Minister quoted the Prime Minister to say, "Jaan hai to Jahan hai", adding it was for the state governments to decide on allowing puja pandals. Maharashtra has issued an advisory for the Navratri festival under which there shall be no garba and dandiya mahotsav in the state. Gujarat has also disallowed garba and dandiya mahotsav this year, the ministry said in the statement.