The government has never spoken of inoculating the entire country as and when a vaccine for coronavirus is approved, heath secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on December 1. The government had earlier demarcated a priority list, which included around 1 crore healthcare professionals, police and armed forces personnel, people aged above 50 years in age and those below 50 with co-morbidities. "The government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country," Bhushan said when asked by when the government would be able to vaccinate whole country. Bhushan's remarks came three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the three key facilities that are working on a vaccine. Bhushan, at a press meet on December 1, clarified that the goal is to work towards a critical mass of vaccinated people that would break the chain of transmission. Dr Balram Bhargava, the chief of Indian Council of Medical Research, the country's nodal organisation for the battle against COVID-19, agreed.
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