Collect, Assess Data On Children Infected With Covid, PM Tells Officials

Prime Minister Modi was speaking to officials from 11 states, including Maharashtra, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh - three of the five most badly affected by the second wave

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged district officials to guard against wastage of COVID-19 vaccine doses; he said it is "critical and you all must ensure we don't have any wastage". The Prime Minister told officials that wasting even one dose of the vaccine - of which there is an acute shortage as the country battles a devastating second wave of coronavirus infections and deaths, meant depriving one person of a degree of protection from the ruthless virus. "There is the issue of vaccine wastage. When vaccines are delivered to you all, we must ensure there is no wastage. You all must monitor this in both urban and rural areas. Stopping vaccine wastage is critical and you all must ensure that we don't have any (wastage)," he said.