Centre flags pollution role in Covid mortality, spike in 3 states

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“…rapid adoption of masks is the most inexpensive but effective approach to this situation,” he said.

Days after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced free Covid-19 vaccine for people of Bihar and at least two states announced that they will offer free vaccine, NITI Aayog Member Dr V K Paul said the expert committee has requested state governments to “wait for the overall picture to become clear”.

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“Vaccine scenario is dynamic because we don’t have a single vaccine which has been licensed for use… let us remember that today there is no vaccine… we are working on vaccine scale-up… in that regard the access to the vaccine will be in such a way that if the vaccine supply is not unlimited, prioritisation has to be done… overall we can say that resources will not be an issue in ensuring the access to vaccine as it unfolds,” Paul said.

“…we have requested the state governments to wait for the overall picture to become clear and to take a national approach towards engaging with companies, deciding the criteria for the vaccine, etc. The state governments have made these statements and they need to be respected,” he said.

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Meanwhile, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan pointed out at the weekly briefing that in the last 24 hours, 49.4 per cent of the new cases came from five states and UTs — Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi.

“Our trend (of decline in cases) is a good sign. However, the trend in three states, in Kerala, West Bengal, and Delhi are worrisome. Delhi is having a third peak…,” Paul said.