Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday hailed India's response to the COVID pandemic and said that the country was able to save over 3.4 million lives by undertaking the nationwide vaccination campaign at an unprecedented scale.The Health Minister lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership during the pandemic and said that he initiated a "preemptive response" much before COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, by the WHO.The remarks of the Minister came while delivering a keynote address virtually at Stanford 'The India Dialog' session on the Economic Impact of Vaccination & Related Matters on Friday."India was able to save more than 3.4 million lives by undertaking the nationwide vaccination campaign at an unprecedented scale. Under the PMGKAY, the government focused on ensuring that no one slept hungry and free food grains were distributed to 800 million people," he said."The report "Healing the economy: