News Analysis India

Tag: Covid vaccination

  • COVID-19 vaccination: For safe reopening of schools, Centre looks to private hospitals

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Amid a debate to reopen the schools across India, the Union health ministry has sought the support of private hospitals in vaccinating teachers free of cost under the CSR initiative.

    There are about 75 lakh school teachers — in both government and private schools — of which less than 20 % are vaccinated, as per the estimates.

    For vaccinating them, The New Indian Express has learnt, private hospitals were urged to seek funding support from MNCs and other companies.

    Sources said that a meeting between health ministry officials and representatives of private hospitals took place last week in which the government sought the support of corporates ahead of issuing guidelines on cautious reopening of schools. 

    “Once the private hospitals start offering this service, this initiative will also be widely publicised to get more teachers to avail the vaccine free at vaccination centres,” said a ministry official. 

    “Following this suggestion, we have already written to some companies such as Amazon to help hospitals across India and are writing to several others,” said Girdhar J Gyani, DG, Association of Healthcare Providers of India.

    “This push will also accelerate vaccinations at smaller hospitals in tier 2 and 3 towns.” 

    In a July 30 circular, the Corporate Affairs ministry had said that funds spent on Covid vaccination for individuals other than employees and their families will be considered as CSR expenditure.

    In March, it had said that spending on Covid would be considered as a CSR activity.

    While some states such as Bihar, MP, UP and Odisha have either opened or are planning to open the schools for secondary and senior secondary level schools on a rotation basis, they are completely shut in most states since the beginning of the pandemic in March, 2020. 

    Last month, top officials, including ICMR director general Balaram Bhargava and AIIMS- Delhi director Randeep Guleria, had suggested that primary schools can be opened first in districts reporting less than 5 % Covid positivity rates.

    It was, however, recommended that full vaccination of teachers and all support staff should be ensured before classes commence in offline mode. 

  • 78 crore doses of Covishield, Covaxin will be available between August and October: Centre

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Centre has projected the production of nearly 78 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin, the two Covid vaccines which have been the lynchpin of the national Covid vaccination drive thus far, for the next three months. This raises hopes of pace in the sluggish programme.

    An internal note prepared by the Union health ministry, reviewed by The New Indian Express, has said that in August, nearly 25.5 crore doses of the two vaccines will be manufactured, while it will go to a little above 26 crore doses in September and 28 crore doses in October.

    In the country, the total Covid vaccination figures have crossed the 50 crore mark now but the population fully covered with two doses of the vaccine remains just about 11 crore — or less than 9% of the total adult population.

    The note by the government also said that between August and December, over 136 crore doses of Covishield by the Serum Institute of India and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech will be manufactured in India.

    Considering that nearly 52 crore doses of the vaccines have been supplied to the states so far, this could mean a total supply of 188 crore doses of these two vaccines by December.

    ALSO READ | Covid vaccine administration rapidly increasing; 13.45 crore doses administered in July: Union Health minister

    Additionally, sources in the Union health ministry said that Covid vaccines by Biological E, Covovax, Janssen and Gennova will also be available starting October.

    “We are hoping to get about 35-40 crore doses of these vaccines in the last three months which will take the total tally of Covid vaccines to nearly 200 crore doses by the year-end,” a senior ministry official said.

    In the country, five Covid vaccines — Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik V, Moderna and Janssen — have received emergency use approval so far.

    As India’s total adult population is about 95 crore, about 190 crore doses are required to fully vaccinate them.

    Those watching the Covid19 vaccination drive closely meanwhile pointed out that the latest figures are based on the production capacity of vaccine makers, the government should also reveal the actual vaccine doses to be available in the coming months.

    “What we are being told is the projected production capacities of the vaccine makers but so far we have seen that the actual supply has been far lesser and an explanation of a few months’ lags in the production cycle is offered for this,” said a vaccinologist attached with a government institute in Faridabad.

    “Therefore I will not be excited by these figures and would want to see how many doses are actually supplied in the coming months” he added.

    The Centre in May had projected availability of 216 crore Covid vaccine doses between August and December but had later revised it to 135 crore, with top functionaries saying that the figure presented earlier was “aspirational”.

  • Each batch of Covaxin undergoes over 200 tests, says Bharat Biotech over quality concerns

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Bharat Biotech on Thursday clarified that Covaxin supplied for the country’s Covid vaccination drive came only from its Hyderabad facility after undergoing nearly 200 quality tests before being tested finally at a central government laboratory.

    The clarification comes following a statement by a senior government adviser NK Arora, head of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization, who recently said that the Covaxin production scale-up had been delayed as the vaccine manufactured at the company’s Bengaluru facility was not of the “right quality”.

    Later, however, he insisted that his statement had been misrepresented and some other functionaries in the Union health ministry, too, backed his clarification. 

    The vaccine maker, meanwhile, said now that thus far, all batches of Covaxin were manufactured and released only from its facilities at Genome Valley in Hyderabad, which is fully audited and approved by regulatory authorities.

    Every batch of Covaxin is subjected to more than 200 quality control tests at our facilities, followed by submission samples to Central Drugs Laboratory under the health ministry before being released commercially, the company said in a statement. 

    ALSO READ | Indian Immunological Limited to start Covaxin production by September, says govt

     It added that since early June, manufacturing of the vaccines has commenced at Malur, Karnataka, and Ankleshwar in Gujarat, prior to which engineering batches were also executed to study equipment functionality. 

    “Products manufactured from these facilities will be available for supplies during September. This is based on our 120-day timeline for manufacturing, testing, release, regulatory approvals, and distribution,” said Bharat Biotech.  Emphasising that the company has always stressed the high-quality vaccines, it highlighted that the firm has not sought indemnity from the government for any adverse events from Covaxin.  The company also sought to underline that vaccine manufacturing, testing, and release is a complex multifactorial science involving inputs from more than 30 scientific and technological disciplines. 

    “This is evident from the fact that since the start of the pandemic only 2 vaccine companies have been able to supply Covid vaccines to the government.”  The strong-worded statement also said that “fake news and false and misleading narratives” may result in unintended consequences of creating panic in the population, cause vaccine hesitancy and extend the country’s timelines to return to normalcy and restoration of livelihoods.

    “We humbly request media organizations and influencers to use caution, restraint, detailed analysis in their reportage and their external communication,” said the company.

  • COVID vaccination to be stepped up in four districts with high caseload: Maharashtra minister

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday said efforts are being taken to expedite vaccination in four districts, including Pune, where the COVID-19 positivity rate was high. He said that necessary directives in this regard have been issued to the administration of these four districts – Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Pune.

    The spike in COVID-19 cases in these districts was higher than the rest of the state, the minister said. “The health department is focusing on tracking, testing and treatment of patients. Nodal officers have been asked to expedite COVID-19 vaccination. We are pushing for uninterrupted vaccine supply from the central government,” he said.

    Positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus out of those who have been tested. The minister said strict implementation of COVID-19 safety protocols was necessary to prevent a possible third wave of the pandemic.

    Data shows that countries which have vaccinated maximum percentage of their adult population have been able to contain the third wave of the pandemic, Tope said.

  • PM Narendra Modi lauds multiple developments from record vaccination to Olympic wins

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday noted a number of developments, from record vaccination to high GST collection and the performance of PV Sindhu and Indian hockey teams in Olympics, to laud multiple happenings that are heartening to every Indian as the ‘Amruta Mahotsav’ begins.

    The government has launched ‘Amrut Mahotsav’ to mark the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence in 2022.

    Not only has PV Sindhu won a well deserved medal, but also we saw historic efforts by the men’s and women’s hockey teams at the Olympics. I’m optimistic that 130 crore Indians will continue to work hard to ensure India reaches new heights as it celebrates its Amrut Mahotsav.
    — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 2, 2021

    The prime minister tweeted, “As India enters August, which marks the beginning of the Amrut Mahotsav, we have seen multiple happenings which are heartening to every Indian. There has been record vaccination and the high GST numbers also signal robust economic activity.”

    “Not only has PV Sindhu won a well deserved medal, but also we saw historic efforts by the men’s and women’s hockey teams at the Olympics,” he said. Modi said he was optimistic that 130 crore Indians will continue to work hard to ensure that India reaches new heights as it celebrates its ‘Amrut Mahotsav’.

    In signs of acceleration in economic activity, India’s tax collections on goods sold and services rendered returned to over Rs 1 lakh crore in July after the second wave of COVID-related restrictions caused a blip in the previous month.

    Goods and Services Tax (GST) mop-up grew 33 per cent year-on-year in July to over Rs 1.16 lakh crore, indicating that the economy is recovering at a fast pace. In July 2020, the collection was Rs 87,422 crore. Over 13 crore vaccine doses were administered in July and the vaccination programme will be speeded up further this month.

  • 2.27 lakh pregnant women take Covid jabs in less than a month

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Within a month of Covid vaccination opening for pregnant women, 2.27 lakh such beneficiaries have taken the shots and the highest of them have been from Tamil Nadu, the Centre said on Friday.

    The Union Health Ministry, based on the recommendations by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization, had approved inoculations against coronavirus for all pregnant women starting July 2. It had said that pregnant women can opt for any available Covid vaccines at any point during the pregnancy. 

    Over the last 4 weeks, Tamil Nadu has vaccinated 78,838 pregnant women, followed by Andhra Pradesh (34,228), Odisha (29,821), Madhya Pradesh (21,842), Kerala (18,423), and Karnataka (16,673), as per the data shared by the ministry. 

    ALSO READ | Spike in vascular, neurological and renal issues after Covid-19 recovery

    The government said that allowing the vaccination of pregnant women was followed up by training of service providers and frontline health workers to equip them to counsel the pregnant women and their families during routine antenatal care about the importance of Covid vaccination during pregnancy. 

    The states, the Centre added, further sensitized their vaccination teams in the government and private facilities on the need for Covid vaccination for this class of women. 

    Studies in India and abroad have shown that Covid19 infection during pregnancy may result in rapid deterioration of health of pregnant women, escalating the increased risk of severe disease and it might affect the fetus too.

    Pregnant women with infection are also at an increased risk for preterm birth and other adverse pregnancy outcomes including higher chances of neonatal morbidity. Additionally, the experts have also highlighted pre-existing comorbidities, advanced maternal age, and high body mass index as factors for severe Covid19 in pregnancy.

    The government said that several initiatives have been taken by states to encourage pregnant women to opt for the vaccine, such as special vaccination sessions for pregnant women.

  • Covid-19: Uttarakhand lags behind in vaccination drive

    By Express News Service
    DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand has committed to complete vaccination of the entire 18 plus population in state by December 31, 2021 but the state lags behind, revealed the vacvination data of the state.

    On July 15, with 170 days was left for the year to be over, the daily vaccination target was 65,192 doses. 

    Anoop Nautiyal, whose Social Development for Communities Foundation have been analysing Covid 19 data since the first case surfaced in Uttarakhand said, “Since fewer doses have been administered during the past 10 days, the average daily target for next 160 days has increased to 66,157.”

    The state government is able to administer 49,759 doses per day on average.

    According to state government data, total 80.50 lakh adult population has to be vaccinated which will require total 1.61 Crore doses to be administered to entire adult populace of the hill state.

    Out of this requirement, around 50 lakh have been administered already. 

    Till July 24, total 55,16,244 doses were administered out of which 42,03,963 people have been administered first dose while 13,12,281 have been administered second dose. 

    According to the state government, the hill state has total population of 49,34,219 in age-group of 18-44 years, 27,95,247 in age-group of 45+, 1,28,002 healthcare workers and 1,93,216 frontline workers. 

    All in all, total 80,50,684 people are to be vaccinated in the state with 16,101,368 doses. 

    Still the state needs total of 1,10,82,718 doses to achieve full vaccination of the adult population of the state. 

  • Jabbed for tourism: 100% of adult population vaccinated in MP’s Khajuraho, says CM; industry upbeat

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: All people aged 18 and above have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Khajuraho town of Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said, leading the tourism industry to be optimistic about the business gaining momentum at the world-famous destination in the coming days.

    While making the announcement on Saturday, Chouhan attributed the success in vaccination to the awareness of people of Khajuraho, located in Chhatarpur district, about 375 km from the state capital Bhopal.

    The Khajuraho temples, which are a UNESCO world heritage site, are situated in the backward Bundelkhand region of the state.

    Tourism industry stakeholders feel the business will now pick up in the area.

    “During the pandemic, all big and small hotels in Khajuraho were completely shut as the local hospitality business is dependent on visitors from outside. Now, being a 100 per cent vaccinated town, we can expect some tourist influx in the coming days,” Ajay Kashyap, a travel agent in Khajuraho, told PTI on Sunday.

    He said domestic visitors have started visiting the temple town since the second COVID-19 wave subsided.

    “Khajuraho gets the largest foreign tourist footfalls in Madhya Pradesh. But, the return of foreign visitors to Khajuraho may take time in view of the air transport restrictions due to COVID-19 and other restraints in their own country,” he said.

    Chhatarpur Collector Shilendra Singh said 13,659 people aged 18 years and above have been vaccinated in Khajuraho.

    Volunteers in the fight against COVID-19 were honoured for their contribution in raising awareness about vaccination, he said.

    According to health department officials, 2,77,07,815 vaccine doses against COVID-19 have so far been administered in Madhya Pradesh.

    On Saturday, MP reported six new cases of coronavirus, which took its tally of infections to 7,91,738, as per the state health department.

    With no fresh casualties, the toll stood at 10,512, while the count of recoveries reached 7,81,077, an official earlier said, adding that the state is currently left with 149 active cases.

  • Covid vaccination: Fresh row erupts as Centre ‘backtracks’ on December 31 deadline

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: After promising that the whole of India’s adult population will be vaccinated against Covid by the year’s end, the government has now rather backtracked from its commitment saying that there is no “fixed timeline” for completion of the drive.

    In response to a question by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the Union Health Ministry said that at present, in view of the dynamic and evolving nature of the pandemic, no fixed timeline can be indicated for the completion of the vaccination drive.

    It did, however, say that all the beneficiaries aged 18 and above are “expected” to be vaccinated by December, adding that a total of Rs 9,725 crore has been spent so far on the vaccination programme including procurement of vaccines and its operational cost.

    Several times over the past few months, many senior government functionaries have assured the country that the Centre is looking to fully vaccinate about 95 crore population in India which was later also shared in an affidavit in the Supreme Court.

    So far, only about 42 crore Covid vaccine doses have been administered in the country and the government has said that about 51 crore doses are to be available till July.

    ALSO READ | It’s expected that all 18-plus beneficiaries will be vaccinated against Covid by Dec 2021: Centre

    The average vaccination in the country over the last several weeks has been about 40 lakh per day while experts have said that nearly 90 lakh vaccine shots need to be administered every day if the government targets to completely vaccinate all adults by December.

    Between August-December, the projected Covid vaccine availability is 135 crore doses—after the government revised its earlier projection of 216 crore doses.

    Many states, mainly opposition ruled ones, however, have been complaining that vaccine supply and distribution, facilitated by the Centre, has been laggard.

    While the Centre in the Parliament on Friday for instance maintained that there has been no delay in entering into purchase agreements with the domestic vaccine manufacturers and advance payments have also been made to manufacturers for the supply orders, it triggered a fresh political slugfest.

    “If this is what, health ministry wants us to believe about vaccine strategy, procurement and distribution, they must explain why states aren’t getting enough vaccines to meet our requirements,” tweeted DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran as his question on Covid vaccine supply to states had received a similar response.

    Congress leader and former Union minister Jairam Ramesh on the other hand pointed out that Rajasthan, ruled by Congress, too has the capacity but not enough supply of vaccines.

    “In fact, most non-BJP states are complaining about this. This is a deliberate ploy by the Modi Sarkar,” he wrote in a tweet.

  • Bombay HC asks Centre about manner, method of COVID-19 vaccine allocation to states

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Saturday directed the Central government to file an affidavit detailing the manner and methods of allocating COVID-19 vaccines to states.

    A division bench of Chief justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni passed this direction while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Yogeeta Vanzara, a city resident, who raised concerns over issues faced by the public in obtaining COVID-19 vaccination appointments through the CoWin portal.

    Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Jamsheed Master informed the court that at present only 14 lakh people in Mumbai have been fully vaccinated, while 50 lakh have received the first dose of the vaccine.

    “Merely 6 per cent of the city’s population is fully vaccinated,” Master said, adding at this rate, it would take three to four years for each citizen to be fully vaccinated.

    The bench noted that it cannot direct the Union government on the issue of allocation of vaccines, as it was a pan-India policy.

    However, the court directed the Centre to explain the manner in which vaccine orders are placed with the manufacturers and the timeline of vaccine delivery.

    The Union government also has to explain the manner in which it makes the vaccine doses available to various states.

    The state, through an affidavit, informed the court that it collects vaccines three times a week after being intimated by the manufacturer, following which the doses are then distributed to vaccination centres across the state.

    However, the affidavit did not specify the quantity of vaccines the state collects.

    The bench directed the Maharashtra State Family Welfare Bureau — which is responsible for allocating doses across the state — to file an affidavit stating when it receives a communication from the Centre and why it cannot inform the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in advance about the exact number of doses allocated.

    The petitioner’s advocate sought that the Serum Institute of India that manufactures Covishield vaccine and Bharat Biotech that manufactures Covaxin vaccine to be added as respondents since they are the vaccine makers in India.

    To this, the Chief Justice said, “Let the Union government file an affidavit, then we will consider adding them as respondents.”

    The court has posted the matter for further hearing on August 2.