Around 58 per cent of India's adult population has received the first dose of Covid vaccine and around 18 per cent of India's adult population has received both the doses as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a high-level meeting to review the COVID-19 related situation in the country and the vaccination drive to battle the pandemic. The session comes amid talk of a potential third wave sweeping the country in September and October.

According to a government statement by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Modi was briefed about the augmentation of the healthcare infrastructure in the country. He reviewed the production, supply, and the pipeline of vaccine manufacturing over the next few months.

Modi also spoke about the need for constant genome sequencing to monitor emergence of mutants.

In the past few months, India has added many more hospital beds and imported over 100 oxygen carriers to raise the total to about 1,250, according to a Reuters report. The government has approved the construction of nearly 1,600 oxygen-generation plants at hospitals, though fewer than 300 had been set up as of early last month as imports take time.

Efforts are also on to install 961 liquid medical oxygen storage tanks and 1,450 medical gas pipeline systems to support at least one such unit per district, the PIB release said.

Almost all states are readying special paediatric wards as some experts warn unvaccinated children could be vulnerable to any new virus mutations, the news agency reported.

India recorded 34,973 fresh coronavirus cases Friday, 19 per cent lower than the previous day. Most of the cases are reported from Kerala and Maharashtra, However, the weekly positivity was at less than 3% for the 10th consecutive week, the PIB said.