Panel for COVID-19 vaccine distribution to meet tomorrow, says health ministry

New Delhi, Aug 11: Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said that the expert committee on vaccine administration, chaired by NITI Aayog's Dr VK Paul, will meet on Wednesday to consider "logistics and ethical aspects" of procurement and administration of vaccines against the coronavirus disease. The deadly virus has affected more than 2.2 million people and killed over 44,000 in the country.

According to health ministry, the committee will engage with stakeholders including state governments and vaccine manufacturers.

The government had formed the expert committee comprising representatives from all relevant ministries and institutions to oversee all aspects of its COVID-19 vaccine plan. It has been tasked with the identification of the vaccine to buying to financing the purchase to distribution and administration.

The panel will pick the vaccine(s) that India can use, plan the finances for what is sure to be an expensive purchase running into billions of dollars, and prioritise the sequence of administration.

The high-level panel last Friday, includes AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria, representatives of the ministries of external affairs, biotechnology, information technology, the director general of health services, India's Aids Research Institute, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and also representatives from states.

Meanwhile, India registered 62,064 new COVID-19 cases and 1,007 deaths, pushing the tally to 2,215,075, according to the Union health ministry on Monday.

There are 6,34,945 active cases and 44,386 people have died of the viral disease so far, the health ministry said.