The Centre on Saturday reconstituted the six Empowered Groups of Officers formed to oversee Covid-19 response, PTI reported. There will now be 10 such groups, including separate panels on vaccination and the availability of oxygen. Each group will have 10 to 11 members.

The Empowered Group on vaccination and vaccine procurement will be headed by NITI Aayog member (health) VK Paul, according to an order issued by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla and eight other officials will be part of the group.

Paul will also lead the Empowered Group for emergency management plan and strategy, according to the news agency. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan will be the convenor of the Empowered Group for emergency response capabilities.

The Empowered Group headed by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Secretary Giridhar Aramane will look into matters related to the production and import of oxygen as well the setting up of pressure swing adsorption plants, PTI reported.

Indian Council of Medical Research head Balram Bhargava will the convenor of the Empowered Group on Covid-19 testing.

Also read: Is the Modi government admitting it messed up India’s vaccine policy just to spite the states?

The Empowered Group on economic and welfare measures will be led by Ajay Seth, the secretary at the Department of Economic Affairs, The Indian Express reported. Labour Secretary Apurva Chandra will head the panel on augmenting human resources.

Information and Broadcasting Ministry Secretary Amit Khare will lead the Empowered Group on information, communication and public engagement, according to the newspaper.

The Union home secretary will be the head of the Empowered Group on pandemic response and coordination.

India has been struggling to contain a massive second wave of the coronavirus disease, which has overwhelmed the country’s health infrastructure. Several states are facing acute shortages of oxygen, Covid-19 vaccine doses and medicines.

The shortage of vaccine doses has severely curtailed India’s inoculation drive. Several states are seeking to procure vaccines through global tenders or by approaching manufacturers directly. However, American vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer have refused to supply doses to the states directly.

Over the last few days, India has registered a decline in daily new coronavirus cases. On Saturday, the country reported 1,73,790 new infections, taking the overall tally to 2,77,29,247 since the pandemic first broke out in January 2020. This is the lowest number of new infections recorded in a single day in 45 days. India’s toll rose to 3,22,512 as it recorded 3,617 deaths in the last day.