People should behave appropriately to prevent COVID third wave: NITI Aayog

New Delhi: As the gravity of the fierce second wave of coronavirus recedes and as the country prepares to battle the third wave, NITI Aayog's Member (Health) V.K. Paul on Monday expressed hope that following appropriate behaviour instructed by the government can help prevent the third wave of the pandemic.

Paul's remarks came during the 28th meeting of the High-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on Covid-19 held on Monday.

While presenting a brief snapshot of the vaccination status, preparedness for paediatric Covid-19 care, and the way forward to battle the third wave, Paul stressed that India is fully prepared but caution remains the key as lockdowns are lifted.

Paul noted that India took 141 days to reach the 23 crore mark in terms of cumulative doses administered, which remains the second-highest in the world after the US, which did in 134 days.

Also, India is one of the world's fastest countries in terms of the number of doses administered so far, he added.

"Out of 88.7 crore people who have been administered at least one dose globally, India accounts for 17.9 crore, which is 20.2 per cent of the global coverage."

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chaired the GoM meet that was also attended by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, and Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey.