News Analysis India

Tag: Coronavirus in India

  • Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Modi for expediting WHO nod to Covaxin

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention for early approval of Covaxin by the World Health Organisation, without which people having taken the Bharat Biotech jab may face problems travelling abroad.

    The CM, in her letter, stated that her government has been “receiving both Covishield and Covaxin” from the very beginning.

    Even the private sector in the state has procured and administered both the vaccines, she said.

    “A large number of students from all over the country travel abroad every year for higher studies and many of them have got themselves vaccinated with Covaxin.”

    “They came to learn later on that their vaccination certificate is not valid abroad. These students are now in a fix regarding their next course of action and their career is at stake,” Banerjee wrote to Modi on Thursday.

    Many countries are allowing entry of only those people who have taken WHO-approved vaccines, she noted.

    “It is learnt that Covaxin is still not approved by WHO and it is not possible to travel abroad as many countries are allowing only those people who are fully vaccinated with WHO-approved vaccines.”

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    “Hence, I request for your kind intervention so that an early approval is received for Covaxin from WHO so that students do not face any problem. This will also benefit people travelling abroad for job, education, business and any other purposes as well,” she added.

    Banerjee had on Wednesday asked Chief Secretary HK Dwidevi to write to the Union Health Secretary and Cabinet Secretary on this matter.

    She had also urged the Centre to take steps to ensure that people inoculated with Covaxin do not face any restriction during their overseas travel.

  • Recount shows under-reporting of Covid deaths in Bihar; total toll around 9,300

    Express News Service
    PATNA: It has been officially confirmed that the districts in Bihar were not doing accurate reporting of Covid-19 deaths during the second wave of the pandemic. In a verification drive launched by the state government on May 18, it was found that 3,951 deaths had not been recorded in previous fatality reports.

    Till June 7, the state’s total count of Covid-19 deaths was 5,424. After revision, the tally went up to 9,375 on June 8. The highest number of ‘unreported’ deaths 1,069 is from Patna. Now, this district’s total has risen to 2,293 from 1,229.

    The verification was done following a directive from CM Nitish Kumar, who wanted the right figures to ensure payment of ex-gratia to the kin of the deceased. Teams of civil surgeons, Additional Chief Medical Officers and senior medical officers from the district level were formed. Principals, superintendents and heads of departments of medical colleges were also part of the teams.

    The state government has announced ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the next kin of each of those who died due to Covid and sanctioned Rs 300 crore for this. 

    ​“Bihar is the first state in country that has carried out such an intensive verification exercise, taking suo motu cognizance of deaths due to Covid with an aim to provide ex-gratia to the next kin of all those who died,” said Pratyay Amrit, Additional Chief Secretary of the health department.

    Previous reports filed by almost all the districts were inaccurate. After Patna, 316 new Covid deaths were reported from Begusarai, 314 from Muzaffarpur, 291 from East Champaran, 222 from Nalanda, 162 from Madhubani, 150 from Darbhanaga,122 from Rohtas, 102 from Kaimur and 97 from Buxar, where 75 unidentified bodies were floating in the Ganga.

    Amrit confirmed the revised death tally is 9,375 and that the government will soon make the payments. He added that these deaths were verified after talking to people and other sources, which were confirmed by the teams of officials. 

    Asked whose fault it was when deaths were under-reported, Amrit said: “The department is trying to find out whose fault it was. Proper action will be taken after we ascertain the facts.” Principal opposition party RJD attacked the NDA government in the state, saying they had been frequently doubting that the actual number of Covid deaths had not been revealed. 

    “Now, it has been exposed how the NDA government was not reporting deaths accurately,” said Mritunjay Tiwari, the RJD spokesperso. He claimed RJD knew that deaths were being under-reported.

  • Covid-19: This Kashmir village is India’s first to achieve 100% adult vaccination

    By Express News Service
    SRINAGAR: A remote hamlet in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir has become the first village in India to vaccinate all its adult population against COVID-19, officials said on Tuesday.

    The credit goes to the healthcare workers whose strenuous efforts shot Weyan hamlet, with an adult population of 362, to national fame, they said.

    “The village is located only 28 kilometres away from Bandipora district headquarters, but a distance of 18 kilometres has to be covered by foot as there is no motorable road,” an official of the health department said.

    He said the task of vaccinating all the residents was even more difficult as the village consists of nomadic families who go to higher reaches for grazing their livestock.

    “There is no internet access in the village. So it was not possible for the residents to get appointments for vaccination like the way people in urban areas do,” Bashir Ahmed Khan, Chief Medical Officer, Bandipora said while explaining the difficulty faced by the healthcare workers.

    The vaccination in the village was covered under ‘J&K model’, which is a 10-point strategy to vaccinate entire eligible population at accelerated pace.

    Despite initial vaccine hesitancy, Jammu and Kashmir has achieved 70 per cent vaccination in the 45+ age group, almost double the national average, the official said.

    Commenting on the achievement, Yatish Yadav, media advisor to Jammu and Kashmir government, said the Union territory was raising the bar in the Covid vaccination drive.

    “#JammuAndKashmirModel. And we thought up to now that Everest was the highest and toughest peak of Himalayas. But, some journey brings a new light, a new life. Team J&K raising the bar on vaccination drive,” he tweeted.

  • Against BJP’s vaccine, but will take government of India’s vaccine: Akhilesh Yadav on policy change

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday welcomed the Centre’s decision to provide free vaccines to states for all above 18 years starting June 21, and asked people to get themselves vaccinated.

    The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also said that he would get himself vaccinated.

    “Seeing the public outrage, the government instead of politicising the corona vaccine announced that it would give the vaccines doses. We were against the BJP’s vaccine but welcome the vaccine of ‘Government of India’. I will also get vaccinated. I appeal to those who could not get vaccinated for the lack of vaccines to do so,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.

    In an address to the nation on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the central government will provide free vaccines to states for all above 18 years starting June 21.

    When the coronavirus vaccine was launched in January, Yadav had sought to know from the government how the drive will be conducted and when the poor will get the shot free of cost.

    The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister had said he has faith in doctors of the country but not the government.

    Yadav had also triggered a controversy, saying he will not get himself injected with a “BJP vaccine” against coronavirus.

    “We have full faith in our doctors but not in the government. It is good that coronavirus vaccine has come out but only believe what the doctors say, not Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,” he had said.

    SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav had got himself vaccinated at a private hospital here on Monday.

    The BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit had described it as a “good message”, and said SP workers and its president should take inspiration from him.

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  • J-&K hamlet first village in India to achieve 100 per cent vaccination of its adult population against Covid

    By PTI
    SRINAGAR: A remote hamlet in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir has become the first village in India to vaccinate all its adult population against COVID-19, officials said on Tuesday.

    The credit goes to the healthcare workers whose strenuous efforts shot Weyan hamlet, with an adult population of 362, to national fame, they said.

    “The village is located only 28 kilometres away from Bandipora district headquarters, but a distance of 18 kilometres has to be covered by foot as there is no motorable road,” an official of the health department said.

    He said the task of vaccinating all the residents was even more difficult as the village consists of nomadic families who go to higher reaches for grazing their livestock.

    “There is no internet access in the village. So it was not possible for the residents to get appointments for vaccination like the way people in urban areas do,” Bashir Ahmed Khan, Chief Medical Officer, Bandipora said while explaining the difficulty faced by the healthcare workers.

    The vaccination in the village was covered under ‘J&K model’, which is a 10-point strategy to vaccinate entire eligible population at accelerated pace.

    Despite initial vaccine hesitancy, Jammu and Kashmir has achieved 70 per cent vaccination in the 45+ age group, almost double the national average, the official said.

    Commenting on the achievement, Yatish Yadav, media advisor to Jammu and Kashmir government, said the Union territory was raising the bar in the Covid vaccination drive.

    “#JammuAndKashmirModel. And we thought up to now that Everest was the highest and toughest peak of Himalayas. But, some journey brings a new light, a new life. Team J&K raising the bar on vaccination drive,” he tweeted.

  • Explain how Rs 35,000 crore budget marked for procuring vaccines is being used: SC tells Centre

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Coming down heavily on the Centre for its ‘arbitrary vaccination policy’, the Supreme Court has asked the government to clarify how the sum of Rs 35,000 crore marked in the Union Budget for procuring vaccines has been spent so far. It also asked why these funds cannot be used for giving free shots to those between 18 and 44.

    “The Budget had earmarked Rs 35,000 crores for procuring vaccines. In light of the Liberalized Vaccination Policy, the Central Government is directed to clarify how these funds have been spent so far and why they cannot be utilised for vaccinating persons aged 18-44 years,” read the 32-page order passed by a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, L Nageswara Rao and Ravindra Bhatt.

    Raising questions on the competitive pricing of vaccines, the judges said: “The justification for this policy has been adduced in a bid to spur competition which would attract more private manufacturers that could eventually drive down prices. Prima facie, the only room for negotiation with the two vaccine manufacturers was on price and quantity, both of which have been pre-fixed by the Central Government.

    This casts serious doubts on Centre’s justification for enabling higher prices as a competitive measure. Furthermore, the Central Government justifying its lower prices on account of its ability to place large purchase orders for vaccines raises the issue as to why this rationale is not being employed for acquiring 100 per cent of the monthly CDL doses.

    “If the Central Government’s unique monopolistic buyer position is the only reason for it receiving vaccines at a much lower rate from manufacturers, it is important for us to examine the rationality of the existing Liberalized Vaccination Policy against Article 14 of the Constitution, since it could place severe burdens, particularly on States/UTs suffering from financial distress.”

    The Supreme Court further directed the Union government to respond to the observations made by the three-judge bench by filing a fresh affidavit with all relevant documents and file notings reflecting the thinking of the Centre on the vaccination policy.

  • Daily Covid-19 count in India lowest in 54 days; 2,795 deaths in last 24 hours

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India reported 1,27,510 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest in 54 days, while the daily positivity rate dropped to 6.62 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

    With the fresh cases, India’s tally of coronavirus cases rose to 2,81,75,044.

    The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 3,31,895 with 2,795 fresh fatalities, the lowest reported in 35 days, and the active cases were recorded below 20 lakh after 43 days, the data updated at 8.00 am showed.

    Also, 19,25,374 tests were conducted on Monday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 34,67,92,257.

    The daily positivity was recorded at 6.62 per cent.

    It has been less than 10 per cent for eight consecutive days, the ministry said.

    ALSO READ | WHO names COVID-19 variants first found in India as ‘Kappa’ and ‘Delta’

    The weekly positivity rate has declined to 8.64 per cent. The active cases were recorded below 20 lakh after 43 days.

    They have reduced to 18,95,520 comprising 6.73 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 92.09 per cent.

    A net decline of 1,30,572 cases has been recorded in the COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for 19 successive days.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,59,47,629, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.18 per cent, the data stated.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    ALSO READ | Supreme Court pulls up Centre over slow Covid-19 vaccination in rural India

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

    India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore on May 4.

    The 2,795 new fatalities include 500 from Maharashtra, 478 from Tamil Nadu, 411 from Karnataka, 174 from Kerala, 151 from Uttar Pradesh, 131 from West Bengal, and 118 from Punjab.

    A total of 3,31,895 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 95,344 from Maharashtra, 29,090 from Karnataka, 24,237 from Delhi, 24,232 from Tamil Nadu, 20,497 from Uttar Pradesh, 15,541 from West Bengal, 14,550 from Punjab and 13,048 from Chhattisgarh.

    The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

    “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

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  • Supreme Court pulls up Centre over slow Covid-19 vaccination in rural India

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Centre had a tough time at Supreme Court on Monday, being criticised for its unclear vaccination policy. A three-judge bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud questioned Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on the steps being taken and the digital divide between rural and urban India.

    Citing technical glitches on the official CoWIN app for vaccination registrations, Justice Bhat told Mehta he had received distress calls from all over the country. He added that young people having registered are visiting private hospitals only to find that slots booked.

    On the Centre’s submission that the court should not interfere in policy, Justice Chandrachud told Mehta this is a platform for dialogue across the spectrum. 

    “The idea is not to criticise, but to strengthen the arms of the government. The fact that MEA went abroad, had dialogue shows the seriousness of the situation,” said Justice Chandrachud.

    The Centre also informed the court it is confident of vaccinating all eligible persons above 18 by the year end. The matter was adjourned on Monday, as the court gave two weeks to the Centre to file an affidavit with its response to the questions raised in the hearing regarding the country’s vaccine policy.

    The court also questioned the reason behind not supplying vaccines for people below 45 and said: “Our question is, what is the rationale. For the population above 45 we will supply vaccines, but for those under 45, states are left to make arrangements.”

    The court also questioned how is the Centre addressing the digital divide and its constraints in rural India. To this, Mehta said: “Every village has a service centre. If I’m a villager who doesn’t have a cell phone, the common service centre will register me and then I will get vaccinated.” 

    The bench did not seem impressed by this. “You must keep your ear to the ground. You keep saying digital India, but see what’s happening. A poor agricultural worker from Jharkhand, who works in Rajasthan, has to go back to Jharkhand to get registered,” asked the court.

    To this, Mehta replied: “No. Registration is where he stays. Registration is such so that tracing can be done if you have one dose or two doses.”

    ​The court stuck to the digital divide aspect. “We are asking how are you answering the digital divide. How are you ensuring that migrant agricultural labourers going from one state to other are getting vaccinated,” asked the court. However, Mehta objected and said it is a policy decision.

  • All civil hospitals in Assam to have their own oxygen plants: Health Minister Keshab Mahanta

    By PTI
    NALBARI: All the civil hospitals in Assam will have their own oxygen plants in the next one month, state Health Minister Keshab Mahanta announced on Thursday.

    The minister made the statement during a visit to the Nalbari Swahid Mukunda Kakati Civil Hospital to take stock of the COVID situation.

    Speaking to reporters, Mahanta said the state government has decided to increase the number of COVID testing to at least a lakh per day.

    Replying to a question, he ruled out the possibility of a total lockdown in the state.

    Further, Mahanta said the state government is planning a scheme to provide food grains to the below poverty line (BPL) families who are in home quarantine.

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  • Plateauing in daily new Covid cases, positivity rate recorded over past three days: Centre

    According to the government, the number of districts with week-on week rise in Covid-19 tests, yet decline in positivity rate has increased from 125 in April 22-28 to 338 between May 6 and 12.