COVID-19: It has been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic first struck the country. The central government announced a nationwide lockdown last year to curb the spread of the disease in the country. As the number of cases declined, the lockdown was lifted in a phased manner. However, the state governments had to reinforce lockdowns in the states due to the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases because of the second wave of the pandemic. At present, the number of cases is declining but as per various media reports there is the possibility of a third wave, and the country must be prepared to combat it. Amidst this situation, there is a common question among all people - what is the key to open economy so that everything goes back to normal?

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While speaking to DD News, Dr. V. K. Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog emphasised on the importance of fast vaccination in order to enable India to open its economy and resume its normal work. He added, "We need to do our daily work, maintain our social life, open schools, businesses, take care of our economy; we will be able to do all this only when we are able to vaccinate at a fast pace."

Incidentally, the country has administered nearly 81 lakh vaccine doses, on the first day when the Revised Guidelines for COVID Vaccination came into force. Dr. Paul further assured that all vaccines of the world have been approved under Emergency Use Authorization. He said that the second wave of the pandemic has now receded, and it is the best time to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Dr. N. K. Arora, Chairperson, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in India (NTAGI), who also joined the interview said, "What we did today is a big achievement. Our aim is to vaccinate at least one crore people every day. Our capacity is such that we will easily be able to administer 1.25 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine every day.”

Dr. Paul also reminded of the fact that a third wave can be stopped if COVID Appropriate Behaviour is followed, and majority of people get vaccinated. Why will there be a third wave if we follow COVID Appropriate Behaviour and get ourselves vaccinated? There are many countries where even second wave has not arrived; if we follow COVID appropriate behaviour, this period will pass," he added.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), as on June 22, 2021, India reported 42,640 new cases in the last 24 hours. So far, 28.87 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.