News Analysis India

Tag: coronavrius

  • Covid vaccination for children likely to start soon: Mandaviya tells BJP MPs

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday told BJP MPs that Covid vaccination for children is likely to start soon, sources said.

    During the BJP parliamentary party meeting, Mandaviya said that the Covid vaccination drive is going on in full swing in the country. Currently, only those who are 18 or above are eligible for vaccination against the coronavirus.

    Very soon a vaccine is expected for children and inoculation for them will start, the sources quoted the minister as telling the MPs.

    The government had earlier said that Covid vaccination of children in the 12-18 age group may start by the end of July or in August.

    “Trial for the Zydus Cadila vaccine is almost complete. By July-end or in August, we might be able to start administering this vaccine to children of 12-18 age group,” Dr N K Arora, chairman of the COVID-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), had said recently.

    The government had also informed the Supreme Court recently that the vaccine developed by Zydus Cadila will be available soon for children who are 12 and above subject to statutory permissions.

    Zydus Cadila is likely to soon apply to the Drugs Controller General of India for emergency use authorisation for its vaccine ZyCoV-D, which it claims can be given to both adults and children.

    Earlier, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria had told PTI that making vaccine available for children will be a milestone achievement and pave the way for reopening of schools and resumption of outdoor activities.

    He had said the data of phase two and three trial of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin on two to 18 years age group is expected by September.

    The vaccine can be available for children in India around that time following approval from the drug regulator, he had said.

    “If the Pfizer vaccine gets approval before that, then it can also be an option for children,” Dr Guleria had said” If the Zydus vaccine gets approval, it will be another option,” Guleria had said.

  • States/UTs must follow prescribed guidelines while reporting Covid data: Health ministry

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The health ministry on Friday said it has regularly emphasised on the need for a robust reporting mechanism to monitor district-wise Covid cases and deaths on a daily basis, two days after Bihar revised its COVID-19 death toll by including 3,951 unreported fatalities.

    The COVID-19 death toll in Bihar was on Wednesday revised drastically upwards by the state health department which put the total number of fatalities caused by the pandemic at 9,429.

    In a statement, the ministry said states and union territories have been advised to report Covid deaths in accordance with the prescribed guidelines.

    This spike in deaths was on account of the 3,971 fatalities reported in Bihar after data reconciliation by the state government, the ministry said.

    “States and UTs have been advised repeatedly through formal communications, multiple video conferences and through the deployment of Central teams for the recording of deaths in accordance with laid down guidelines,” the ministry said.

    The Union government has written to Bihar to provide a detailed date and district-wise break-up of the reconciled number of deaths to the health ministry.

  • People can get vaccinated against COVID-19 round the clock: Health Minister

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The government has lifted the time restriction on receiving COVID-19 vaccine jabs so as to increase the pace of immunisation, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday.

    People can now get vaccinated round-the-clock according to their convenience, he said in a tweet, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi values the health as well as the time of the citizens of the country.

    “The government has lifted the time restriction to increase the speed of vaccination. People can now get vaccinated 24×7 according to their convenience. Prime Minister Narendra Modi understands the value of health as well as the time of citizens,” Vardhan tweeted in Hindi.

    Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan told a press conference on Tuesday that the timeline of vaccinating the beneficiaries from 9 am to 5 pm has been done away with and it is up to the hospitals to decide whether they want to continue administering the vaccines even after that.

    “Co-WIN 2. 0 does not provide 9 am-5 pm vaccination sessions. It has done away with that timeline. If a hospital has the capacity, the system permits it to do vaccination even after 5 pm in consultation with the state government. This has been briefed both to the state governments as well as the private and government hospitals,” he said.

    The second dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 started being administered from February 13 for those who have completed 28 days since the receipt of the first dose.

    The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started on February 2. The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

    More than 1.56 crore (1,56,20,749) vaccine doses were administered in the country through 3,12,188 sessions, according to a provisional report till Wednesday at 7 am.

    The beneficiaries include 67,42,187 healthcare workers (first dose), 27,13,144 HCWs (second dose), 55,70,230 FLWs (first dose), 834 FLWs (second dose), 71,896 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (first dose) and 5,22,458 beneficiaries aged above 60 years.

  • Maharashtra minister Satej Patil tests positive for COVID-19

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra minister Satej Patil on Tuesday informed that he had tested positive for novel coronavirus.

    Taking to social media, the minister of state for home in the MVA government said, “I have tested positive for COVID-19.

    My health condition is good and have started medication as advised by doctors.

    ” Sources close to the minister said he had recently come back from the United States of America and had got himself tested as a precautionary measure, and the report returned positive.