News Analysis India

Tag: India Vaccination

  • 60 per cent of India’s adult population fully vaccinated: Health minister

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Over 60 per cent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday, December 23, 2021.

    “Accomplishing more new feats! Congratulations India. Aided by public participation & dedicated efforts of our health workers, over 60 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated now,” he said in a tweet.

    Accomplishing more new feats!Congratulations India Aided by public participation & dedicated efforts of our health workers, over 60% of the eligible population fully vaccinated now #SabkoVaccineMuftVaccine pic.twitter.com/cts7lR8SzA
    — Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) December 23, 2021
    Besides, around 89 per cent of India’s adults have been administered the first dose, according to health ministry officials.

    With the administration of 70,17,671 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses given in the country have exceeded 139.70 crore as per provisional reports till 7 am.

    This has been achieved in 1,47,94,783 sessions.

  • Country now has strong ‘protective shield’ of 100 crore vaccine doses against pandemic: PM Modi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The country now has a strong “protective shield” of 100 crore vaccine doses to combat the biggest pandemic in 100 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.

    India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore mark on Thursday.

    Speaking via video conferencing after inaugurating the Infosys Foundation Vishram Sadan at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on the Jhajjar Campus of New Delhi AIIMS, Modi said, “This day of October 21, 2021, has been recorded in history. India has crossed the 100 crore vaccine doses mark sometime back.”

    “To combat the biggest pandemic in 100 years, the country now has a strong protective shield of 100 crore vaccine doses. This achievement belongs to India, every citizen of India,” the prime minister said.

    Modi also expressed gratitude to all the vaccine manufacturing companies of the country, workers engaged in vaccine transportation and health sector professionals engaged in administering the vaccines.

    On the inauguration of the Vishram Sadan, Modi said the Infosys Foundation has constructed the building of Vishram Sadan, while the cost of land and electricity and water has been provided by AIIMS Jhajjar.

    “I express my gratitude to AIIMS Management and Sudha Murthy ji’s team for this service,” he said.

    India’s corporate sector, private sector, and social organisations have continuously contributed in strengthening the health services of the country, the prime minister noted.

    Private sector will have a key role in our efforts to have at least one medical college in every district, Modi said.

    The 806-bed Vishram Sadan has been constructed by the Infosys Foundation as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

    It is aimed at providing air-conditioned accommodation to the attendants of cancer patients, who often have to stay in hospitals for a long duration, the PMO had said in a statement.

    Built at the cost of about Rs 93 crore, it is located in close proximity to the hospital and OPD Blocks of the NCI.

    Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, and Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murthy attended the inauguration, conducted via video conferencing.

  • Only 5% of India fully vaccinated against Covid after 5 months of vaccination drive

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Over 5 months after the Covid vaccination drive was launched in the country, just about 5% of the adult population in India is now fully vaccinated, the government figures show. 

    As per details shared by the Union Health Ministry in a press briefing on Friday, 5.03 crore people in India, with an adult population of 94 crores, have received two doses of Covid vaccines. 

    The total vaccinations in India, on the other hand, have now reached 27.07 crore which means over one-fourth of the adult population in India has received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.

    Globally, nearly 80 countries are ahead of India in terms of fully vaccinated population.  

    For the past one week, the average daily vaccination in the country has been about 30.57 lakh, woefully short of 40 lakh daily vaccinations targeted by the Centre for this month. The highest daily vaccination for this month was 38.20 lakh on June 14, but even this could not match the highest daily vaccination of over 40 lakh in April’s first week. 

    ALSO READ | Covid vaccination lowers chances of hospitalisation by 75-80 per cent, says Govt

    Even more worryingly, the daily vaccinations have been on a downward curve since June 14, a day when maximum Covid vaccine doses were administered this month and this is not an ideal situation, warn experts. 

    A member of the national Covid task force who did not wish to be identified said that in order to achieve the target of vaccinating all individuals by the year’s end, the country should be vaccinating at least 70-75 lakh individuals every day, if not more. 

    “But we are far short of this target largely due to low vaccine availability,” he said. 

    While insisting that about 50% more Covid vaccines are available in June, as compared to last month, the Centre however had asked states to “substantially accelerate the pace of vaccinations”. 

    It had said that 10 crore and 90 lakh doses of Covishield and Covaxin will be available respectively in June apart from nearly 1 crore doses of Sputnik V. 

    The average daily Covid vaccinations in May had come down by a whopping 40% as compared to April, even though inoculations opened for all adult population in India from the beginning of last month.

    As of now, India is using three vaccines against Covid19, Covaxin, Covishield, and the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, available in limited quantities at few private hospitals while its efforts to procure other vaccines from abroad are yet to yield any results so far.

  • India overtook US in terms of administering at least one Covid vaccine dose, says Centre

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The government on Friday said that India has overtaken the US in terms of the number of people who have received at least the first dose of Covid vaccines.

    Referring to global vaccination figures put together by Our World in Data, VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog said the number of people who have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine in India is now higher than in the US since Thursday.

    “The data put out by Our World in Data shows that India has administered the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to 17.2 crore people. In the US, this figure is 16.9 crore. As of Thursday, we have overtaken the US in terms of the number of people who have received at least one dose,” he said.

    He added that this dataset does not include China but while the UK had administered 3.9 crore first doses vaccine and this figure stood at 3.8 crore for Germany.

    Most experts however have pointed out that comparison with other countries in terms of absolute number of vaccinations may not be appropriate given the country’s huge population as compared with other countries with much smaller populations. In the US for instance about 40% adults have been fully vaccinated, while this figure is less than 5% for India. 

    ALSO READ | Serum Institute gets DCGI’s nod to manufacture Covid jab Sputnik V in India

    As per the statistics shared by the Union health ministry on Friday, India has so far covered around 43% people in the 60 plus category, and 37 % in the 45 plus age group category with at least one dose of a Covid vaccine.

    “For us, the elderly population has a greater priority because of their vulnerability and high prevalence of comorbidities in this age group. I urge states to increase vaccination of senior citizens and urge them to come forward for vaccination,” said Paul.

    Authorities also added that while the second wave of Covid is subsiding, India needs more time to ensure “high coverage” of vaccination for its population against coronavirus, stressing on the need for consistent containment measures.

    In response to a question whether the covid vaccine by Pfizer, once available in India, will be administered to adolescents as is the case in some other countries, Paul said that vaccination can be opened for kids only when sufficient doses are available for the kids.

    He added that Covaxin and the Covid vaccine candidate by Zydus Cadilla are being tested on children.  

    “Hopefully we will have enough data in the next two weeks to decide whether the vaccine can be used on children or not,” he said. It just needs to be ascertained whether the vaccines have the similar immunogenicity in kids as in adults.

  • Centre pays Rs 1,500 crore advance to Biological E for 30 crore doses

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday announced that it is making an advance payment of Rs 1,500 crore to Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Biological E for procuring its Covid vaccine, still under phase 3 clinical trials, marking the first such deal for securing coronavirus vaccine.

    The government had entered into purchase agreements with Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, the two other companies whose vaccines are being used for India’s Covid vaccination drive now, only after their vaccines had received regulatory approvals.

    The advance payment, said the Centre, is to secure 30 crore doses of the vaccine candidate, which is a foreign construct, being produced in India.

    Its candidate includes an antigen developed by Texas Children’s Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development and licensed from BCM Ventures, Baylor College of Medicine’s integrated commercialization team, along with Dynavax Technologies — all in the US.

    The Union government said that the vaccine candidate is currently undergoing phase-3 clinical trials after showing promising results in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, whose details however are yet to be published in a peer reviewed scientific journal.

    ALSO READ | B.1.617.2 variant behind majority of breakthrough Covid infections in India: Study

    The vaccine, based on RBD protein subunit- had been tested in about 360 people between November and April in early-stage trials and has got approvals for late-stage trials in 1268 healthy volunteers—aged 18-80 years—across 15 sites in India as part of a larger global efficacy trials.

    It is however not yet fully clear whether phase 3 trials have actually started in India.

    The Centre maintained that the proposal by the Hyderabad based company was examined and recommended for approval after due diligence by National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid, adding that the vaccine is likely to be available in a few months.

    It also said that this vaccine candidate has been supported by government from preclinical stage to phase-3 studies and the department of biotechnology has not only provided financial assistance in terms of grant-in-aid of over Rs 100 crore but has also partnered with the firm to conduct all animal challenge and assay studies through its Research Institute Translational Health Science Technology Institute, Faridabad.

    As part of India’s “Covid Suraksha – the Indian Covid-19 vaccine development mission”, development of 5-6 Covid vaccine candidates are being supported and some of them are now closer to licensure and introduction in public health systems.

  • Stick to two-dose protocol for Covishield, no mixing of vaccines anytime now: VK Paul

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Amid confusion that the government may completely do away with the second dose of Covid vaccine Covishield, the Centre on Tuesday clarified that there was no change in the existing dosing protocol while also insisting that mixing and matching of vaccines was not a possibility in the near future.

    “There is some confusion and misunderstanding but let us make clear that we will keep following the gap interval of 12 weeks between two Covishield doses and everyone will get two doses of both Covishield,” said VK Paul, Member (Health) Niti Aayog and head of the national Covid task force.

    He also maintained, while addressing a press conference on Covid situation India, that mixing of Covid doses is not a protocol anywhere in the world as of now and it remains an unresolved scientific question which only research can settle.

    ALSO READ | CCMB’s dry swab test cheaper, results akin to RT-PCR tests: Scientists

    “Possibility of a positive effect (of mixing doses) is also plausible but a harmful reaction cannot be ruled out either,” he said, noting that research is still underway. “Mixing of vaccine is not the protocol yet, the same vaccines, that is Covishield and Covaxin should be administered for both doses. Stick to the SOP.”

    Last week, in a briefing by the Union health and family welfare, Paul on being asked a question related to inadvertent mixing of vaccines in Uttar Pradesh, had remarked that vaccinating people with two different vaccines is “scientifically and theoretically possible” but “it lacks scientific evidence at this time”.

    Meanwhile, authorities added that it will be able to offer Covid vaccines to 1 crore people per day by mid-July or August.

    “There is no shortage of Covid vaccines. By mid-July or August, we will have enough doses to vaccinate 1 crore people per day. We are confident of vaccinating the whole population by December,” said ICMR director general Balram Bhargava.

    ALSO WATCH |  Is B.1.617 variant spreading at a frightening speed?

  • Gender gap in vaccination? Just four states inoculated more women than men even as India inches near the 18 crore mark

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  As states report shortage of Covid-19 jabs and people make a mad rush to book vaccination slots, gender divide in the vaccination drive is quite visible across states. Only four states Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh have vaccinated more women than men so far.

    As per official data, the gender gap in vaccination is over 4 per cent nationally but high-Covid burden states like Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have over 10 per cent difference in male-female vaccination ratio.

    However, two high-burden states Kerala and Karnataka have vaccinated more women than men. Also in the list are Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Nagaland and Jammu and Kashmir have the widest difference in male, female vaccination numbers in the country, with around 14 per cent.

    The gender divide in vaccination is also visible in some Northeastern states even though the number of Covid cases reported in these states are less when compared to high-burden states.

    Nagaland at 14.3 per cent tops the list with widest gender divide followed by Jammu and Kashmir with  13.76 per cent. States like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh have male-female vaccine difference between 10-13 per cent. The figure is around 11 per cent for Chandigarh. 

    Amid reports of some vaccinated people developing mild-to-moderate Covid-19 symptoms, there has been a rush to book slots amid  shortage of the jabs.

    Among the total 17.78 crore beneficiaries vaccinated so far (as per latest data on CoWIN portal) in the country, 7.3 crore are male, 6.5 crore female and 19,000 others. As many as 20,375 cases of after-effects of vaccination have also been reported. 

    ALSO READ | 216 cr COVID jabs to be available in 5 months between August-December, enough to cover all: Centre

    The central government has opened vaccination for people in age group 18-44 years from May 1 but stated that they will have to pay for both the doses.

    However, some state governments have announced to provide free vaccination to all age groups who are residents of the respective states. 

    The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country inched closer to 18 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

    It said 4,37,192 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years received their first dose of COVID vaccine on Thursday and cumulatively 39,14,688 across 32 states and union territories since the start of the third phase of the vaccination drive.

    “The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 17,91,77,029 as per the 8 pm provisional report,” the ministry said.

    The total of 17,91,77,029 include 96,16,697 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 66,02,553 HCWs who have taken the second dose, 1,43,14,563 frontline workers (FLWs) who have received the first dose and 81,12,476 FLWs who have taken the second dose and 39,14,688 individuals in the 18-44 years of age group have taken the first dose.

    Besides, 5,65,82,401 and 85,14,552 beneficiaries over 45 to 60 years old have been administered the first and second dose, respectively, while 5,42,32,598 and 1,72,86,501 beneficiaries above 60 years have taken the first and second dose.

    As on day-118 of the vaccination drive (May 13), total 19,75,176 vaccine doses were given.

    A total of 10,10,856 beneficiaries were vaccinated for the first dose and 9,64,320 beneficiaries received the second dose of vaccine as per the provisional report till 8 pm, the ministry said, adding that final reports would be completed for the day by late night.

    ALSO READ | Centre agrees to increase gap between two doses of Covishield to 12-16 weeks

    The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry said.

    Meanwhile, Delhi Commission For Protection Of Child Rights chairman Anurag Kundu has written to the Union Health Secretary urging him to include pregnant women and lactating mothers under the coronavirus vaccination process.

    Currently, they are excluded from the COVID-19 vaccination drive because of a lack of clinical trials data on the effect of coronavirus vaccine on these two groups.

    “Annually, 2.6 crore women give birth, and another 2.6 crore are lactating mothers. This makes 5.2 crore women who are left out, a critical population both in numbers and their vulnerability priority. World-over maternal death due to Covid-19 is emerging as a concern,” he said in a tweet on Thursday.

    ALSO READ | Centre says open to facilitate Covaxin tech transfer to ramp up production

    In the letter, he has advised that pregnant and lactating mothers be categorised as a high-risk group and setting up of a task force to track and monitor effects and evolve SOPs.

    He has also suggested that there should be proactive communication to educate everyone to ensure informed consent.

    A registry for pregnant women and lactating mothers being vaccinated should be created so that a continuous monitoring mechanism can exist to see if the vaccine has an adverse effect on pregnant women and lactating mothers.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Over 90 lakh COVID vaccine doses still with states, will receive 10 lakh more in three days: Centre

    The Centre has so far provided more than 17.35 crore (17,35,07,770) vaccine doses to states and UTs free of cost.

  • Vaccination suspended in Mumbai for three days as stocks run out; more states flag jab shortage

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: No vaccination against COVID-19 will be held in Mumbai for the next three days as the existing stock of doses has been exhausted, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Thursday evening.

    The vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group, which was supposed to start from May 1 earlier, was likely to be deferred too, it said in a statement.

    Currently those above 45 years of age are being inoculated.

    “The BMC will not hold any vaccination camp on Friday, Saturday and Sunday because existing stock has been exhausted. With this, the civic body is likely to postpone its vaccination drive for 18-44 age category beyond May 1,” the statement said.

    If fresh supplies were received, vaccination will resume, it added.

    There are 63 civic-run vaccination centres in the city besides 73 centres run by private hospitals.

    The corporation also stressed that those in the above-45 category should not fear that they will not be inoculated once the drive for the 18-44 age group begins.

    ALSO READ | Gehlot dials Shah, PMO over shortage of oxygen, medicines for COVID patients as state records 158 deaths in a day

    “Both are different programmes, and whenever vaccine doses are available, the priority will be for the above-45 age category,” the civic body said.

    It also said that those who have received the first jab of vaccine should not worry if there is a longer hiatus before they get the second dose.

    “If there is a longer gap, the body develops some anti-bodies against COVID-19,” the statement said.

    “We were told on Wednesday night that we would get around 75,000 vials of vaccine. With such a low supply, the BMC opened only some vaccination centres while others were kept closed (on Thursday),” said Suresh Kakani, additional commissioner.

    “Out of the total stock, we have used up some 50,000 vials till this evening. If we do not get more doses, we will have to suspend the vaccination drive,” he had told reporters earlier in the day.

    As per the Maharashtra Health Department, only 26,610 people received the jab in the country’s financial capital on Wednesday.

    On Thursday, long lines were seen outside vaccination centres.

    Though the vaccination begins at 12 noon, at several centres people queue up from as early as six in the morning, said an official.

    The civic body allowed eligible persons to walk in at vaccination centres without registering themselves on the Co- WIN app.

    This also added to the rush.

    ALSO READ | Inoculation for 18-45 age group to start when doses become available: Goa CM

    “Limited supply is one reason for long queues. Earlier people hesitated to get the jab. But with growing number of COVID-19 deaths, there has been a surge at vaccination centres,” the official said.

    Many people complained that they could not receive the dose.

    “We have been standing here for more than three hours but the queue is not moving at all. We are not sure whether we will get a dose today,” said 54-year-old Smriti Bindra at the Nesco vaccination centre in Goregaon.

    Senior citizens need not stand in long queues as vaccine is in short supply “only for now”, tweeted additional municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide.

    “But be rest assured that all 45 plus years citizens will eventually get vaccinated,” she added.

    Several states, including Punjab, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh on Thursday said they do not have sufficient doses of vaccine for the inoculation of those in the 18-44 age group, and indicated that they may miss the May 1 launch date of the drive.

    The Health Minister of Delhi, one of the worst COVID-hit cities in the country,  said the city “does not have vaccines” for the third phase and purchase orders have been placed with the manufacturers.

    Later, officials said Delhi will procure 67 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine from Serum Institute and the first tranche of three lakh doses will be delivered by May 3,  Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh are among the states which have already raised the issue of vaccine shortage even for the ongoing inoculation drive for those above 45 years of age.

    However, denying that there was any shortage of vaccine, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday said  more than 1 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and UTs and they will receive over 20 lakh more doses within the next 3 days.

    The ministry also said the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country was over 15 crore so far.

    As per reports, Serum Institute’s current manufacturing capacity is 6-7 crore doses per month while Bharat Biotech made around 2 crore doses in April as against 1.5 crore  doses in March.

    ALSO READ | COVID-19: MP logs 12,762 new cases, 95 deaths; vaccination for above-18 category won’t start from May 1

    India is facing a debilitating surge in coronavirus cases and has been recording more than 3.5 lakh fresh COVID cases on a daily basis for the past few days.

    On Thursday, the country registered nearly 3.8 lakh new coronavirus infections, pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to over 1.

    83 crore, while active cases crossed the 30-lakh mark,  Claiming that shortage of COVID-19 jabs may disrupt plans to immunize all adults from 1 May, several states, including Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have said the process to vaccinate people in 18-44 age group will begin once they get substantial number of vaccines from pharmaceutical companies.

    Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said the vaccination drive for all above 18 years in the state may get delayed as there were not enough doses of the COVID vaccine.

    “We are not getting adequate doses of vaccines. That is why we are facing problems. We have staff and required infrastructure for vaccination,” Sidhu told reporters.

    Asked whether the state health authorities will be able to start the vaccination drive for the 18 plus age group from May 1, the minister said, “I feel that we may not start by that time.”

    Asserting that the state government has made all the necessary arrangements for giving vaccines to those over 18 years free of cost, a statement from the Gujarat government said,”the vaccination process will start once the state receives substantial numbers of vaccine doses from pharma companies.

    A senior official of Telangana health department said though the state government is in touch with vaccine manufacturers, there is no certainty on when the stocks would be available for the mass vaccination.

    “We are in touch with the manufacturers also. We are in search of the vaccine. We require around four crore doses,” Telangana Public Health Director G Srinivasa Rao told PTI.

    According to a senior official in Andhra Pradesh government, inoculation may not start on May 1 in the state as planned due to delay in procurement of vaccine from manufacturers.

    ALSO READ | 14,327 new COVID-19 cases in Gujarat, 180 patients die; vaccination for 18-45 age group to start only by May 15

    The state government has already written to the manufacturers for vaccine supplies and yet to get confirmation from them, the official added.

    An official release from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s office said as per the availability of stocks, the complete vaccination process for the age group (18 to 44 years) in the country will not be completed until January next year.

    Odisha is facing acute shortage of Covishield vaccines forcing people to wait for second dose of the jab for a week time, official sources said Thursday.

    Against the requirement of 6.3 lakh doses of Covishield to give second dose to beneficiaries, the state is having only 1.1 lakh doses of this variety,a senior official in the Health and Family Welfare department said.

    “We are unable to give a second dose to 45 plus age group. The state require at least 6.3 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine for the beneficiaries who are waiting for the next dose,” the official said.

    Keeping in view the prevailing shortage of vaccines, the state government is not sure whether it can start the third phase of vaccination from May 1.

    “We can make a plan for this phase after getting to know about the vaccine stock available with the state government,” Director of Family Welfare Bijay Panigrahi said.

    Due to shortfall of Covishield, the government has decided not to conduct inoculation in at least five districts such as Boudh, Jharsuguda, Koraput, Sambalpur and Subarnapur on Friday.

    However, there are 3,34,500 Covaxin doses available with the state.

    While people across the state are administered Covishield vaccine, the citizens of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation area are getting Covaxin.

    Due to shortage of the Covishield vaccines, the state on Thursday conducted inoculation only in 288 centres including 61 sites for Covaxin.

    There was no vaccination session in Balasore, Bhadrak, Boudh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kendrapada, Keonjhar, Khurda, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, and Puri districts on Thursday due to non-availability of doses.

    The state government has also stopped its inoculation programme on weekends across the state due to shortage of vaccines, he said.

    ALSO READ | Record one-day spike of 3,474 new COVID cases, 26 deaths in J-K; state places orders of 1.25 crore vaccines

    As many as 57,76,371 people including 27,602 on Thursday, have so far been inoculated, he said.

    Meanwhile, ahead of the third phase of COVID vaccination programme from May 1 in the country, more than 3.94 lakh people within the age group of 18-44 years from the state have already registered themselves online for the jabs.

    Of the registered persons, as many as 1,19,511 people are aged between 18 and 30 years and 2,75,633 people in the age bracket from 30 to 44 years.

    Registration for the third phase of COVID vaccination for anyone above 18 years of age began at 4 pm on April 28.

    The registration is being done on www.cowin.gov. in, Aarogya Setu App and UMANG App.

    Additional Chief Secretary, Health & Family Welfare P K Mohapatra has written to CMD Serum Institute of India to provide 40 Lakh Doses in May and 60 Lakh Doses during June, July and August.

    While one crore doses of Covishield will be required for the entire state during next four months, the state government has also placed orders for 10.34 lakh doses of Covaxin with Bharat Biotech.

    The state government has said that the supply of vaccine doses should start immediately and timeline has also been given.

    By May 31, 2021, 5 Lakh doses and by June 15 rest 5.34 Lakh doses of Covaxin are needed to reach the central drug store of the state, said a senior official.

    Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on 25 April announced free vaccination for all.

    Immediately after Patnaiks announcement, the state government placed its orders for 387.34 doses of vaccine to be supplied to Odidsh in earlier dates.

    While the state required 377 Lakh of Covishield vaccine doses, its Covaxin requirement is 10.34 lakh, official sources said.

    The state government has targeted to spend Rs 2,000 crore towards vaccination of 2 crore people in the state.

    The total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered across the country has crossed 15.21 crore with over 20 lakh shots being given till 8 pm on Thursday, the Union Health Ministry said.

    Also, the total registrations on CoWIN portal for phase three vaccination has crossed 2.28 crore in just two days, according to data till 9:30 pm, it said.

    The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 15,21,05,563 according to the 8 pm provisional report.

    These include 93,85,676 healthcare and 1,24,12,904 frontline workers who have taken the first dose and 61,89,635 healthcare 67,04,193 frontline workers who have taken the second shot.

    In the age group of 45 to 60 years, 5,17,23,607 got the first dose and 34,02,049 the second dose, while 5,18,72,503 senior citizens got first dose of the vaccine and 1,04,14,996 got the second shot.

    A total of 20,84,931 vaccine doses were given on Thursday till 8 pm out of which 11,82,563 beneficiaries got the first dose and 9,02,368 the second dose according to the provisional report, the ministry said, adding final reports for the day would be completed by late in the night.

  • Vaccination phase three: Number of shots rise on day one, experts bat for scaling up inoculation capacity with private players

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  On the first day of the major expansion of the Covid-19 vaccination drive that has now opened for all above 45 years of age, the falling inoculation figures surged again as the doses administered on Thursday crossed 2 million mark, after a gap of several days. 

    A total of 22,94,254 beneficiaries received jabs till about 10 pm on Thursday a day after 72,000 Covid-19 cases were detected countrywide — the vaccination dashboard maintained by the Centre showed.

    Seeking to exponentially expand the countrywide anti-coronavirus inoculation drive, the Centre has decided to keep all public and private sector COVID-19 vaccination centres (CVCs) operational throughout April, including on gazetted holidays.

    The Union health ministry has written to all states and union territories on Thursday and asked them to make necessary arrangements for this to optimally utilise all vaccination centres across the public and private sectors to ensure rapid increase in the pace and coverage of COVID inoculation.

    “This decision is in line with the graded and pro-active approach employed by the government of India along with the states and union territories for COVID-19 vaccination,” the health ministry said.

    More than 6.75 crore vaccine doses have been administered across the country so far.

    ALSO READ | Malls, religious places may shut down in Mumbai amid surging COVID-19 cases

    Meanwhile, many younger beneficiaries in several parts of the country complained that it took a long time to take the shot and they had to wait in long queues even after registering well in advance.

    Authorities in states, on the other hand, claimed that the CoWIN portal, which is central to the vaccination process, was slow as a result of which uploading documents and verification took time.

    In India, where the highest vaccinations in a single day over 3 million was achieved on March 22, this figure had gone down considerably over the last weekend due to Holi.

    The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, meanwhile, has resulted in a massive surge in cases in several states.

    So far, a total of 6,75,36,392 vaccine doses have been administered, as per the provisional report which include 88,48,558 healthcare workers who have taken the first dose and 52,63,108 healthcare workers who have taken the second dose.

    Also, 93,99,776 frontline workers have now been given the first dose and 39,18, 646 in the category have received the second dose.

    Importantly, among the general population 4,01,06,304 over the age of 45 years old which include mostly those above 60, have now taken the shots against COVID-19.

    ALSO READ | We can’t go back to last year: Multiplex, retail associations urge Maharashtra government to avoid lockdown

    Officials at the Centre have suggested that the government has set a target of achieving about 5 million vaccinations a day. 

    The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated and vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.

    The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

    The ministry said so far vaccine doses have been administered to 88,48,558 HCWs (first dose), 52,63,108 HCWs (second dose), 93,99,776 FLWs (first dose) and 39,18,646 FLWs (second dose).

    It also includes 4,01,06,304 beneficiaries aged 45 and above.

    As many as 16,20,746 beneficiaries received the first dose and 1,26,348 received the second dose of vaccine, the ministry said, adding final reports will be compiled by late night.

    According to data till 8 pm, 15,28,639 beneficiaries aged 45 or above were administered the first dose on Thursday.

    Meanwhile, experts have recommended speeding up the inoculation drive by scaling up capacity with collaboration with private providers to contain the rapidly increasing second wave.

    On Tuesday, the government had said India is facing an increasingly severe and intensive situation in some districts but the entire country is potentially at risk.

    “All efforts to contain the virus and save lives should be taken,” Dr VK Paul, Member NITI Aayog (Health) had said.

    “The private sector needs to come forward and participate in the vaccination drive. We were told there are 20,000 private vaccination centres in the country. But less than 6,000 vaccination centres are being run by the private sector in India. We request the private sector to make the remaining vaccination centres functional and increase their number,” he had said.

    According to the health ministry, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh continue to show a steep rise in the COVID daily new cases accounting for 84.61 per cent of the new cases reported in a span of 24 hours.

    Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 39,544.

    It is followed by Chhattisgarh with 4,563 while Karnataka reported 4,225 new cases.

    India’s active caseload has reached 5,84,055 and now comprises 4.78 per cent of the country’s total infections.

    A net rise of 31,489 cases has been recorded in the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours.

    Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Punjab cumulatively account for 78.9 per cent of the total active cases in the country.

    Maharashtra alone accounts for more than 61 per cent of the active caseload of the country.

    The Centre has been advising the states and union territories to increase the proportion of RT-PCR tests to more than 70 per cent of the total tests.

    India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,14,74,683 with 40,382 recoveries being registered in a span of 24 hours.

    A total of 459 deaths were reported in a day, the highest so far this year.

    Six states account for 83.01 per cent of the new deaths.

    Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (227).

    Punjab follows with 55 daily deaths, the ministry said.

    Meanwhile, experts have recommended speeding up the drive by scaling up capacity in collaboration with private providers to contain the rapidly increasing second wave.

    India is facing an increasingly severe and intensive situation in some districts, but the entire country is potentially at risk, the Centre said on Tuesday.

    “All efforts to contain the virus and save lives should be taken,” Dr VK Paul, Member NITI Aayog (Health) told reporters on Tuesday.

    Dr Paul heads the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 and is a core member of the Centre’s COVID-19 response team.

    “The private sector needs to come forward and participate in the vaccination drive. We were told there are 20,000 private vaccination centres in the country. But less than 6,000 vaccination centres are being run by the private sector in India. We request the private sector to make the remaining vaccination centres functional and increase their number,” he said.

    In the wake of the surging new cases, the Centre may be forced to recalibrate its vaccine diplomacy, Dr Girdhar Gyani, Secretary General, Association of Healthcare Providers- India (AHPI) said.

    There should be lesser exports till the time the Indian situation stabilises, he said.

    “The government shall not take such a big chance at the moment as our country needs to be vaccinated at utmost priority.”

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    “The private sector has created world-class systems and integrating continuous learnings on this. Hence we have urged the government to ramp up the vaccination strategy by leveraging the private sector’s full strength and also urge the people of India to practice basic hygiene,” said Dr Gyani.

    In India, the cases peaked in September after which they started declining and the per day cases were less than 9,000 in early February.

    The numbers started increasing exponentially again in March.

    Rajneesh Bhandari, Founder NeuroEquilibrium, said, “In India, our air-conditioning and cooling start during the summers and people stay and work in closed spaces.

    Thus, as the temperature increases, we are seeing the number of COVID cases increasing.

    COVID-19 has not spread much in rural areas because people are not living or working in closed spaces. However, the drive needs scale with the help of private providers.”

    Bhandari said the spread of coronavirus is a very complex phenomenon, and science is still grappling with the multiplicity of parameters.

    “Some parameters that may influence the spread include social distancing, proper use of masks, virus variants, temperature, humidity, vaccination, etc. Various studies have found an inverse correlation between temperature and the daily number of cases.”

    “One US study estimates that every one-degree increase in minimum temperature leads to a decrease in the cumulative number of cases by 0.86,” added Bhandari.

    The second wave of COVID-19 in Europe and the US was much more severe than the first wave and peaked during winters when people stayed closed doors, he said.

    (With PTI Inputs)