In his address to the nation today, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi summarised the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country and promised that free vaccines would be made available to all citizens.
The Prime Minister also assured the nation that supply of vaccines will increase in the coming days. “Work on producing an intranasal vaccine for Covid is also happening,” he said.
Modi also announced a centralised COVID-19 vaccine policy.
“From Monday, June 21, in every state of the country, for all citizens above the age of 18 years, the Government of India will provide free vaccine to the states. Government of India itself will buy 75 percent of the total vaccine production from vaccine manufacturers and give it free to the state governments,” he said.
While commending the efforts of the administration in managing the pandemic, the Prime Minister emphasised that following COVID protocols is the way to defeat this “invisible and mutating” enemy. He also lauded the efforts of medical professionals and frontline workers in helping manage the second wave that has swept across the country.
"During the second wave, the demand for medical oxygen in the country increased unimaginably in the months of April and May. Never in the history of India has the need for medical oxygen been felt in such quantity," Prime Minister Modi said in his address.
"To meet this demand, work was done on a war footing," he added.