India Govt Will Not Vaccinate Entire Country
India's health authorities have said that the entire country need not be given the COVID-19 vaccine and only a critical mass of the 1.3 billion population needs to be vaccinated.
India's health authorities have said that the entire country need not be given the COVID-19 vaccine and only a critical mass of the 1.3 billion population needs to be vaccinated to stop the transmission of the virus and that the state governments are now preparing a priority list of people who should be vaccinated first and are planning the vaccine distribution.
Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "I just want to make this clear that the government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country,"
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director-General Dr. Balram Bhargava said, "Our aim is to stop the virus from spreading. If we are able to vaccinate a critical mass of people and break that transmission then we may not have to vaccinate the entire population."
A source familiar with the matter who chose to remain anonymous, also told News18, "This is a democracy. If you have been identified as a person who is at risk of getting infected or if you are a person living in an area where there are many cases of COVID-19, you will not be forced to take a vaccine."
Dr. Bhargava said that masks will remain important and people will have to continue wearing them even after vaccination.“ We will vaccinate a small population at a time. Therefore, masks will be protective and will continue to be used so that the virus does not spread.”
