Out of the total cases, over 3.39 cases are active while over 94.2 lakh people have recovered after testing positive.Continuing the trend of contraction of coronavirus cases, India’s COVID-19 active caseload now stands at 3,32,002 comprising 3.34 per cent of the total number of infections reported in the country, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. A total 26,382 people were found to be infected with COVID-19 in India in a single day, as per the Health ministry’s latest data update on Wednesday. During the same period, the country also registered 33,813 new recoveries ensuring a net decline of 7,818 cases in the active caseload.
“India has recorded less than 40,000 daily new cases since the last 17 days,” the ministry underlined. The figure of new cases per million population in India in the last seven days — 147 — is one of the lowest in the world, it said.
Out of the total cases, over 3.32 lakh cases are active while over 94.56 lakh people have recovered. With 387 new fatalities, the death toll now stands at 1,44,096. Daily deaths have remained below 400 for the fourth consecutive day. Kerala was the only state to report more than 5,000 cases on Tuesday. Underlining the potential challenges of serious adverse reactions that could be triggered by Covid-19 vaccines during the largest adult immunisation drive expected next year, the central government on Tuesday said it has directed all states to identify at least one health centre in each block level that would be linked to the vaccination centre for management of such adverse events.
During the weekly briefing on the pandemic, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan reiterated that the time-line for vaccination will not be impacted in the backdrop of the drug regulator currently examining applications of the three vaccine manufacturers who have sought emergency use authorisation of their vaccines.
Dr V K Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, emphasised that the additional mechanism on adverse event reporting is being implemented, keeping in view the unique challenge of vaccinating a large adult population, most of who will have associated comorbidities.
A health professional collects swab samples for Covid testing (File/Express Photo: Amit Mehra)
New cases of Covid-19 as well as the number of active patients continue to witness a decline over the last few days while the recovery rate continues to go up across Haryana. According to Wednesday evening Covid-19 bulletin, the state reported 807 new cases of Covid-19 patients while 1,452 recovered in the last 24 hours. The number of active Covid-19 patients decreased to 7,573. At least 14 patients died in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate of Covid-19 patients, however, reached 95.95 per cent Wednesday evening.
Among the new cases, Gurgaon added 230, Faridabad 180, Sonipat 46, Hisar 22, Ambala 30, Karnal 32, Panipat 32, Rohtak 30, Rewari 22, Panchkula 34, Kurukshetra 20, Yamunanagar 28, Sirsa 15, Mahendragarh 11, Bhiwani seven, Jhajjar 22, Palwal nine, Fatehabad four, Kaithal six, Jind 24, Nuh two and Charkhi Dadri one. Among the fatalities, two each died in Gurgaon, Sonipat, Hisar and Panipat, and one each in Faridabad, Ambala, Kaithal, Panchkula, Jhajjar and Fatehabad.
As of Wednesday evening, there were 239 patients in a critical condition, including 208 on oxygen support and 31 patients on ventilator support. (With inputs from Express News Service)
Delhi recorded 1,547 fresh COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with over 79,000 tests conducted, even as the positivity rate stood at 1.96 percent, authorities said.The death toll mounted to 10,147 with 32 new fatalities while the active case tally dropped to 13,261 from 14,480 the previous day, they said. This is the second consecutive day when the positivity rate remained below two percent.
The positivity rate from December 3 to December 7 had successively dipped to 4.96 percent, 4.78 percent, 4.2 percent, 3.68 percent and 3.15 percent respectively. However, on December 8 it had risen again to 4.23 percent, falling again to 3.42 percent on December 9 and 2.46 percent on December 10. (PTI)
The Covid-19 vaccine being developed indigenously by Bharat Biotech has been found to be well tolerated with no serious adverse events and produced robust immune responses, interim findings from Phase I trials revealed.
The Hyderabad-based company, which is developing Covaxin, in collaboration with National Institute of Virology, an ICMR institute in Pune, has started phase-III trials only recently, and is yet to enroll all the participants as per its design.
“Reactogenicity was absent in the majority of participants, with mild events. The majority of adverse events were mild and were resolved. One serious adverse event was reported, which was found to be unrelated to vaccination. All three vaccine formulations resulted in robust immune responses comparable to a panel of convalescent serum,” the interim study, which is yet to be peer reviewed, found.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 332 fresh COVID-19 infections on Wednesday which took the union territory's caseload to 1,16,922, while five more fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,817, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 151 were reported from the Kashmir division and 181 from the Jammu division, they said. Jammu district recorded the highest number of fresh cases at 96, followed by 53 in Srinagar district, according to the officials.
The number of active cases dropped to 4,346 in the union territory as 415 patients recovered from the infection. So far, 1,10,769 patients have recovered, the officials said. Jammu and Kashmir also reported five more COVID-19 deaths the previous day, four from Jammu and one from the Kashmir region, they said. With these, the death toll due to the pandemic stands at 1,817, they said.
The UK government is reviewing the tiered lockdown allocations for different parts of the country as scheduled by law on Wednesday, even as millions of more people in and around London moved into the highest alert level of Tier 3 coronavirus restrictions after a worrying spike in infections.
With the addition of the UK capital and surrounding areas of Essex and Hertfordshire to Tier 3, or near complete lockdown, around 61 per cent of England's population is now living under the toughest lockdown rules which impose a ban on inter-household mingling indoors and a closure of all restaurants and bars except for takeaways and deliveries. "The number of COVID-19 cases in London has increased significantly over the past two weeks and we continue to experience the highest case rates of anywhere in the country," said Professor Kevin Fenton, London Regional Director for Public Health England.
"We are now in a situation of exponential growth which, if left unchecked, would lead to a rapid escalation in cases and hospitalisations that could overwhelm our NHS (National Health Service) services over the festive period and into the New Year. Whilst no-one wants to see London under tighter restrictions, the stark reality of the situation means we have no choice," he said.
Odisha reported 407 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the tally to 3,24,796, a Health Department official said. Five more deaths raised the toll to 1,820, he said. Of the new cases, 236 were reported from different quarantine centres. Sundergarh recorded the highest 62 new cases, followed by Angul (60) and Khurda (46). Four districts -- Deogarh, Nabarangpur, Subarnapur and
Rayagada -- did not report any new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, he said. Khurda, of which state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, has so far reported 52,224 COVID-19 cases, followed by Cuttack (28,428) and Ganjam (21,748), the official said.
Germany hit a new record level of coronavirus deaths as it entered a harder lockdown Wednesday, closing shops and schools to try to bring down stubbornly high new cases. The country recorded 179.8 deaths of new infections per 100,000 residents over the last seven days, a new high and significantly more than the 149 per 100,000 reported a week ago by the Robert Koch Institute, the country's disease control center.
It also blew past its previous daily total, with Germany's 16 states reporting 952 people had died of the virus, the agency said. That was far greater than the previous daily record set Friday of 598 deaths, although included two days of figures from the hard-hit eastern state of Saxony, which did not report Tuesday. It brought the country's overall pandemic death toll to 23,427. Faced with exponentially increasing cases in October, Germany implemented a lockdown light at the start of November, which closed bars and restaurants but left shops open. The measures succeeded in leveling off the numbers of new daily infections, but didn't bring them down, prompting the new stricter restrictions. (AP)
Almost no place has been spared and no one. The virus that first emerged a year ago in Wuhan, China, swept across the world in 2020, leaving havoc in its wake. More than any event in memory, the pandemic has been a global event. On every continent, households have felt its devastation joblessness and lockdowns, infirmity and death. And an abiding, relentless fear. But each nation has its own story of how it coped.
The story of COVID-19 in Brazil is the story of a president who insists the pandemic is no big deal. Jair Bolsonaro condemned COVID-19 quarantine, saying shutdowns would wreck the economy and punish the poor. He scoffed at the little flu, then trumpeted the fatalistic claim nothing could stop 70 per cent of Brazilians from falling ill. And he refused to take responsibility when many did.
In many ways, normal life has resumed in China, the country where COVID-19 first appeared one year ago. China's ruling Communist Party has retracted some of the most sweeping anti-disease controls ever imposed. The challenge is jobs: The economy is growing again, but the recovery is uneven. (AP)
Drug major Cipla on Wednesday announced its partnership with the Premier Medical Corporation Pvt Ltd for commercialisation of the rapid antigen test kits for COVID-19 in India.
“In this collaboration, Cipla will be responsible for the marketing and distribution of the Rapid Antigen Detection Test for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen that will be manufactured by Premier Medical Corporation Pvt Ltd,” Cipla said in a regulatory filing.
The company said it will commence supply of rapid point-of-care nasopharyngeal swab tests from this week.
The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday permitted political/religious gatherings in open space with certain restrictions from December 19.
In a statement, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said following all the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), social, political, sports, educational, cultural, entertainment, and religious gatherings of a maximum of 50 per cent capacity would be permitted in open spaces. He said other districts need to obtain prior permission from the District Collector, and Greater Chennai Police Commissioner with respect to Chennai.
Edappadi further instructed the public to wear masks while stepping outside and follow all safety precautions issued by the government to curb the spread of the virus.
The state government had given nod to conduct religious congregations, social, political, cultural, and other functions inside an auditorium with 50 per cent capacity or a maximum ceiling of 200 people from December 1 till December 31.
Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, reported 1,132 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the overall tally to 8,01,161. With 10 deaths, the toll reached 11,919. The number of recoveries reached 7,79,291 after 1,210 patients were discharged on Tuesday. There are 9,951 active cases in the state.
Meanwhile, the state School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan announced that half-yearly exams for government and government-aided schools have been suspended. The minister said private schools can conduct the exams online if required. On reopening of schools, Sengottaiyan said Chief Minister will take a decision after consulting educational experts, teachers, parents, students, etc.
Nearly one in four people may not get COVID-19 vaccines until at least 2022 because rich countries with less than 15% of the global population have reserved 51% of the doses of the most promising vaccines, researchers said on Tuesday.
Low- and middle-income countries – home to more than 85% of the world’s population – would have to share the remainder, said researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States.
An effective response to the pandemic requires high-income countries “to share in an equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the world”, they wrote.
At least eight residents of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chennai tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, taking the number of infected on the campus to 191. Meanwhile. six students also tested positive at Anna University’s College of Engineering, Guindy campus. The institution decided to conduct tests after two students residing on the campus complained of fever.
Speaking to the reporters after inspecting the IIT campus, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Dr. J Radhakrishnan, said: “We have been telling this, again and again, not wearing masks could increase the risk of getting infected by the virus. While eating we need to remove masks and hence we should make sure we maintain social distancing. Few small mistakes will cause great danger. As I said yesterday, we will initiate action the management which lacks to implement these things.”
Tuesday was the third straight day that detection of new cases of coronavirus infections remained within 30,000. Not since the middle of July, when India’s daily tally was still to touch 30,000, has this happened. Incidentally, the total number of infections in the country at that time were yet to cross one million. Now, that number is poised to reach ten million in a couple of days.
If current trends continue, by the end of this month, not more than 20,000 cases are likely to get detected every day.
“That is what our mathematical model is predicting. The numbers being predicted by the model right now are in close alignment with what is being reported every day. And, going further, the model shows that the daily detection of new cases should come down to about 20,000 by the end of December,” said Manindra Agarwal, a professor at IIT Kanpur, who was part of a government-appointed team that developed a mathematical model to map the trajectory of the disease in India.
Underlining the potential challenges of serious adverse reactions that could be triggered by Covid-19 vaccines during the largest adult immunisation drive expected next year, the central government on Tuesday said it has directed all states to identify at least one health centre in each block level that would be linked to the vaccination centre for management of such adverse events.
During the weekly briefing on the pandemic, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan reiterated that the time-line for vaccination will not be impacted in the backdrop of the drug regulator currently examining applications of the three vaccine manufacturers who have sought emergency use authorisation of their vaccines.
The Bhavnagar Municipal School Board has issued an order directing teachers who exempted themselves from the Covid-19 vaccination survey to “mandatorily apply for retirement”.
The order issued on Monday by Yogesh Bhatt, administrative officer of Bhavnagar municipal school board, states, “…it is to be urgently ordered to obtain medical fitness certificates of such teachers who have got their orders (to conduct Covid-19 survey) cancelled. Also, teachers above the age of 55, who are unable to perform their duties, will be motivated to take voluntary retirement. If some teacher is found unfit to perform this duty, (he or she) will have to mandatorily apply for retirement so that he (or she) can avail of retirement benefits on time… Teachers, who applied for an extension in service (despite age to retire) till the semester concludes, also have to obtain medical certificates.”
According to sources, of 650 teachers employed at 65 schools under Bhavnagar Municipal School Board, 30-32 had sought to be exempted from the survey on medical grounds.
A month after the Gurgaon District Magistrate directed all hospitals in Gurgaon to reserve “at least 50% of total bed capacity” for COVID-19 patients, fresh orders issued Tuesday brought down the cap to 35 per cent, as Covid cases fell.
In the order, District Magistrate Amit Khatri has stated that “at least 35% of total bed capacity of all Public/Private Hospitals” must be “dedicated for COVID-19 cases. The order also directs that “adequate availability of human resource and logistics (Drugs, Consumables, ICU etc.)” be ensured.
While the district recorded between 470 and 870 Covid-19 cases in the last nine days of November, this figure has reduced to between 250 and 500 this month, despite the number of samples being collected daily remaining more than 4,000. As a result, the situation at hospitals has also improved, with the number of vacant beds rising from around 72 per cent of reserved beds at the end of November to over 88 percent.
(Inputs from Sakshi Dayal, Gurgaon)
As India gets ready to roll out one of its largest immunisation programmes, the Union Health Ministry said 29,000 cold chain points, 240 walk-in coolers, 70 walk-in freezers, 45,000 ice-lined refrigerators, 41,000 deep freezers and 300 solar refrigerators would be used for Covid-19 vaccine storage. Addressing a press briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan also asked states to be prepared for possibility of an adverse event after being vaccinated.
India recorded 22,065 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, the lowest single day spike since July. With this, India’s caseload breached the 99 lakh mark. With 354 new fatalities, the death toll now stands at 1,43709. Read more here
Gujarat's COVID-19 tally increased to 2,29,913 on Tuesday with the addition of 1,110 new cases, the state health department said. Eleven fresh fatalities pushed the state's COVID-19 death toll to 4,193, it said. The number of recovered cases increased to 2,12,839
with 1,236 more patients getting discharged from hospitals during the day, the department said in a release. With this, the coronavirus recovery rate in Gujarat improved to 92.57 per cent. There are now 12,881 active cases, of which the condition of 61 patients is critical, said the department.
The coronavirus vaccine made by Moderna is highly protective for adults and prevents severe cases of COVID-19, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Based on the encouraging findings, the agency intends to grant emergency authorization for use of the vaccine Friday, people familiar with the FDA’s plans said. The decision would give millions of Americans access to a second coronavirus vaccine beginning as early as next week.
The review by the FDA confirms Moderna’s earlier assessment that its vaccine had an efficacy rate of 94.1% in a trial of 30,000 people. Side effects, including fever, headache and fatigue, were unpleasant but not dangerous, the agency found.
Kerala recorded 5,218 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the total caseload to 6.77 lakh as over 57,000 people are undergoing treatment for the infection, Health Minister K K Shailaja said. As many as 5,066 people were cured on Tuesday, taking the recoveries so far to 6,16,666 and active cases to 57,757 while the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state has soared to 6,77,255.
In the last 24 hours, 56,453 samples have been tested and the test positivity rate has climbed to 9.24 per cent while 70,56,318have been sent for testing, the minister said in a release. Among the 14 districts, Kottayam reported the highest number of cases with 758, followed by Thrissur (712) and Ernakulam (617). (PTI)
COVID-19 cases and deaths are declining in India which is very reassuring, the Centre said on Tuesday but cautioned against any laxity saying an overwhelming proportion of the country's population is still "very very susceptible" to the virus and the situation may escalate unexpectedly. While there is a continuous increasing trend in COVID-19 cases and deaths globally, particularly in America and Europe and the situation in the world is becoming worrisome, in contrast the scene in India is satisfying as the cases and deaths are declining, Dr V K Paul, member (health) at NITI Aayog, told a press conference here.
"Mortality is declining and it is well below 400 per day. Cases have come down to almost 22,000. This is the kind of number we all experienced in July. So that is very reassuring. As a nation, we seem to be now doing very well.
"We are saving lives. But remember, this cannot be taken for granted. An overwhelming proportion of our population is still very very susceptible to the virus. And the situation can escalate unexpectedly," Paul said while cautioning against any laxity. (PTI)
A Delhi court Tuesday acquitted all 36 foreign nationals facing trial for allegedly breaking Covid-19 related guidelines by attending the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area.
The Jamaat was in news in March after the Nizamuddin Markaz emerged as a hotspot. As many as 955 foreigners were chargesheeted by the Delhi Police for allegedly violating visa conditions, indulging in missionary activities and not following the government’s Covid guidelines.
Speaking at a press briefing, Niti Aayog's V K Paul said, "We are happy to note that Delhi has made progress, we congratulate the Govt of Delhi as well as the other governments who have done so well in contributing towards such a significant control in the recent times."
Speaking at a press briefing, Health Ministry’s Rajesh Bhushan Tuesday said that 29000 cold chain points, 240 walk-in coolers, 70 walk-in freezers, 45000 ice-lined refrigerators, 41000 deep freezers and 300 solar refrigerators will be used for the Covid-19 vaccine storage. “All necessary resources of vaccination have been delivered to the states,” he added. Bhushan also said, “Adverse events following immunisation is a critical issue. When we undertake a universal immunisation program, which has been done for decades, then some adverse effects are seen in children and pregnant women after vaccination.”
"We should take precautions, messages have been sent to them (farmers) from govt. Democracy process should continue but we should also continue to follow #COVID19 guidelines, " said Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog on being asked "on the gathering of farmers at Delhi border".
The number of cases per million population in India continues to be amongst the lowest in the world. The number of cases in India is 7178 per million population while the global average is 9000, said Health Ministry's Rajesh Bhushan.
More than 15.55 crore COVID-19 tests have been conducted so far; cumulative positivity rate has declined to 6.37 per cent, said Health ministry on Tuesday. "29,000 cold chain points, 240 walk-in coolers, 70 walk-in freezers, 45000 ice-lined refrigerators, 41,000 deep freezers & 300 solar refrigerators will be used. All these equipment have already reached state governments," said Rajesh Bhushan.
The COVID-19 situation in the national capital has improved in the last several days, with low number of cases and reduction in death count, and the daily positivity rate staying below 5 per cent since December 3. Delhi recorded 1,376 fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, the lowest in over three-and-a-half months, even as the death toll rose to 10,074 with 60 new fatalities.
The number of cases and the single-day fatality count now indicate a marked improvement in the situation since the third wave of the pandemic had hit the city in November. The highest single-day spike 8,593 cases till date was reported on November 11. On November 18, 7,486 COVID-19 cases were recorded with 133 new fatalities, the highest single-day death count till date here. However, on December 13 only 33 fatalities were recorded, the lowest since September 21, when it stood at 32.
Germany's health minister further increased the pressure on the European Union's regulatory agency, demanding that it approve a coronavirus vaccine before Christmas, the dpa news agency reported Tuesday. "Our goal is an approval before Christmas so that we can still start vaccinating this year," Health Minister Jens Spahn said late Monday.
Spahn had already expressed impatience with the European Medicines Agency on Sunday, noting that Germany has created more than 400 vaccination centers and has activated about 10,000 doctors and medical staff and was ready to start mass vaccinations as early as Tuesday. Spahn is pushing for a quick approval of a new vaccine developed by Germany's BioNTech and American drugmaker Pfizer that has already been authorized for use in Britain, the United States, Canada and other countries. But Germany cannot use it because it is still waiting for approval by the EMA, which evaluates drugs and vaccines for the EU's 27 nations. (AP)
New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court asked the Centre on Tuesday to consider granting break to doctors engaged in COVID-19 duty for the last seven-eight months. The top court said that continuous work might be affecting mental health of doctors.
A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R S Reddy and M R Shah, which is hearing a suo motu case on proper treatment of COVID-19 patients and dignified handling of dead bodies in hospitals, asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to consider the suggestions of giving the doctors some break. Mehta assured the bench that the government would consider the suggestion of the bench to grant some break to health workers engaged in COVID-19 duty.
"For last seven-eight months doctors have not been given any break and are continuously working. You take instruction and think over giving them some break. It must be very painful and might be affecting their mental health," the bench told Mehta. (PTI)
During the Covid-19 pandemic, cyber-attacks were on a high as scammers ran phishing campaigns to fool users who spent more time online than ever. Now, with the Covid-19 vaccines about to hit shelves, scammers are trying to take advantage of people’s anxiousness as they try to tempt people into buying fake remedies or even the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer, BioNTech and others for $250 (Rs 18,385 approximately) on Darknet. As per a report by cybersecurity firm Checkpoint, over 1,062 domains have been created in November consisting of the keyword ‘vaccine’. This number is even higher than the ‘vaccine’ related registrations in the past three months. (Read the full report here)
Seniormost submariner of the Indian Navy, Vice Admiral Srikant, passed away due to Covid-19 related complications at Base Hospital in the national capital Monday night, Indian navy officials said.
Srikant was the Director-General of Project Seabird and had previously held titles including Inspector General of Nuclear Safety and Commandant of the National Defence College. (With ANI inputs)
A day after IIT-Madras campus was placed under a temporary lockdown, 79 more students, staff members tested positive for Covid-19 Tuesday, taking the total number of infections in the hotspot institution to 183. IIT-Madras has emerged as one of the biggest clusters of coronavirus infections in Chennai after education institutions were allowed to open on December 7. Tamil Nadu health secretary J Radhakrishnan said that the institution failed to adhere to the safety precautions resulting in a spike.
As per local reports, the students had claimed there had been overcrowding in the hostel mess and that could have led the infection to spread.In the last 10 days, 71 residents of IIT-Madras tested positive for Covid-19 and on Monday, 33 more were found to be infected.
Senior U.S. officials will begin receiving coronavirus vaccines this week as part of updated federal continuity of government plans that now include terrorism and pandemics as threats to the nation, and its leaders.
The effort comes after President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that White House aides should receive the COVID-19 vaccine “somewhat later in the program.” Still, doses are expected to be administered at the White House, Capitol Hill and other facilities within the week, according to senior administration officials. Trump’s statement about moving more slowly was only expected to affect priority vaccination for a small subset of the hundreds, if not more, officials who are to be inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine, which received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday.
Over one lakh health workers in Jammu and Kashmir will be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the first phase when a vaccine is available in the country, a senior official told PTI.
The Jammu and Kashmir adminstration has identified over 4,000 sites and 24,000 vaccinators for it, he said. The health administration has already started advance planning for coronavirus vaccine rollout and deputy commissioners have prepared district-wise micro-plans for vaccination sites, cold chain storage points and logistics requirements.
"Jammu and Kashmir has identified around 4,000 vaccination sites, more than 5000 trained vaccinators and 19,000 potential vaccinators for COVID 19 vaccination under the COVID vaccination programme," Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education Department, Atal Dulloo said.
The Centre has asked states to utilise data generated at the district level during screening for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) to identify a priority group that is expected to receive Covid vaccinations early next year: those below the age of 50 with comorbidities, top government sources told The Indian Express.
“The basic document will be the electoral roll, which will provide states with age details of beneficiaries. The states will superimpose this basic document with the NCD screenings that they have conducted. The states can also create their own mechanisms, as health is a subject of the state,” sources said.
Last week, a high-level expert group co-chaired by Dr V K Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, recommended three groups to be simultaneously vaccinated on priority depending on availability of vaccine: 1 crore health care workers; 2 crore frontline workers, including police and armed forces; and, about 27 crore above the age of 50 and those less than 50 years with comorbidities. (Read Kaunain Sheriff M's report here)
India recorded 22,065 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am Tuesday, the lowest single day case spike since July. With this, India’s total tally breached the 99 lakh mark. Out of the total cases, over 3.39 cases are active while over 94.2 lakh people have recovered after testing positive. With 354 new fatalities, the death toll now stands at 1,43709.