Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for ensuring quick and holistic containment measures to prevent the further spread of the virus.(PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a meeting with his top Cabinet colleagues to review the progress of ongoing Covid-19 vaccination, availability of drugs such as Remdesivir, and to discuss the scaling up of vaccine production.

“Citizens should be facilitated for vaccination despite lockdowns and healthcare workers involved in vaccination must not be diverted for other duties,” PM Modi directed officials at the meeting, according to an official statement.

Modi was also informed about the vaccine wastage.“As many as 17.7 crore [177 million] vaccines have been supplied to the states in the country and almost 31% of eligible population over the age of 45 has been given at least one dose of the COVID vaccine,” the statement said.

Modi called for ensuring quick and holistic containment measures to prevent the further spread of the virus. He was told about 12 states that have over 100,000 active cases. Modi said the states should be given help and guidance. He added the states should ensure that the speed of the vaccination should not decrease.Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Harsh Vardhan, Piyush Goyal, Mansukh Mandaviya attended the meeting along with top officials.