In the light of a new surge in the coronavirus cases and the Government keenly monitoring availability of domestic vaccines for its treatment at a mass scale, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a virtual meeting of floor leaders of all parties on December 4 to discuss Covid-19 situation in the country.

The leaders will deliberate the pandemic situation following unlocking stages in a video conference meet on Friday that will be chaired by the Prime Minister.

Floor leaders of political parties from both Houses of Parliament have been called for the meeting, according to sources.

The Parliamentary Affairs Ministry is coordinating the meeting and has reached out to floor leaders of all parties, they said. This will be the second all-party meeting called by the Government to discuss the Covid-19 situation since the outbreak.

Senior Cabinet Ministers in the Modi Government, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, are expected to attend the meeting.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Minister of State Arjun

Ram Meghwal too will attend the meeting.

The meeting is being held at a time when it is being contemplated to merge the Winter Session of Parliament with the Budget Session in wake of rising Covid-19 cases in the national Capital.

Modi, in his monthly “Mann ki Baat” on Sunday had cautioned people against “carelessness” when the pandemic was unabated and a vaccine still not at hand. “Carelessness could be fatal”, he said.

The meeting also assumes significance as it is being held after Modi’s visit to pharmaceutical companies in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune to review coronavirus vaccine development work there.

On Monday, Modi again interacted with three teams involved in the development of the corona vaccine through video conferencing.

The political meet, according to sources, would pave way for a comprehensive containment plan with a time-frame and also detail vaccine distribution down to the last man in a systematic way. It is calculated that after the first dose a second dose would also need to be introduced.

The Centre has asked States to submit their detailed plan for the vaccine distribution, including the cold-storage facilities.