According to officials, as of Friday, Februry 5, 2021, nearly 5.2 million vaccinations have been administered over 10.4 million sessions. This suggests that around 50% of the intended target has been achieved. There were 3.3 lakh vaccinations administered today and India has been the fastest, when compared with the United States, United Kingdom and Israel to reach 5 million inoculations, the Health Ministry spokesperson claimed. India’s vaccine programme has been the fastest, when compared with the United States, United Kingdom and Israel to reach 5 million inoculations, the Health Ministry spokesperson claimed.
Over 1 lakh people vaccinated so far in DelhiADVERTISEMENT
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The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 till date in Delhi has crossed the one lakh-mark and the majority of them are healthcare workers, officials said on Saturday.
On Friday, over 9,200 healthcare workers had received COVID-19 vaccine shots in Delhi during the third week of the inoculation drive, registering a turnout of more than 50 per cent.
"The total number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 so far has crossed 1,00,000-mark," a senior official said.
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Vaccination of frontline workers has also started, he said.
District Magistrate of several districts have come forward to get themselves vaccinated, and set an example, such as DMs of southwest, north, northwest, east and west districts, officials said.
Several police personnel have also come forward to get vaccinated, they said.
The district administrators have sought to inspire confidence in the general public regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, a senior official said. - PTI
25 countries in queue for ‘Made in India’ COVID-19 vaccine, says Jaishankar
India has so far supplied COVID- 19 vaccine to 15 countries and another 25 nations are in the queue at different levels for the jab, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in Amaravati.
He said there are three categories of countries which are keen to get the vaccine from India — poor, price sensitive nations and other countries which directly deal with pharmaceutical companies that make the antidote.
“I think right now we have already supplied to about 15 countries [as per my recollection]. I would say there would be another about 25 countries which are at different stages in the pipeline. But what it has done is today it has put India on the map of the world,” Mr. Jaishankar told reporters at a press conference.
School students need not be afraid, attendance not compulsory, says T.N. Minister
Ahead of the reopening of schools for classes 9 and 11 from Monday, School Education Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan on Saturday said that the students need not be afraid, as attendance is not compulsory.
On a question regarding government school students in Tiruppur district testing positive for COVID-19 after reopening, he replied that the schools were reopened to ensure that the students receive an education, but all students do not have to attend regular classes as per the standard operating procedures issued by the State government.
Over 54 lakh people vaccinated against COVID-19 in India, says Health Ministry
More than 54 lakh people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country, the Union Health Ministry said.
Of the 54,16,849 beneficiaries inoculated, the highest number of people were vaccinated in Uttar Pradesh at 6,73,542, followed by Maharashtra at 4,34,943, Rajasthan at 4,14,422 and Karnataka at 3,60,592.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said India is the fastest country to reach the 50 lakh-mark in COVID-19 vaccination in 21 days.
India's coronavirus tally touches 1,08,14,304
India's COVID-19 infection tally climbed to 1,08,14,304 with 11,713 new cases in a day, while 1,05,10,796 people have recuperated so far pushing the national recovery rate to 97.19 per cent on Saturday, according to Union Health Ministry data.
There are 1,48,590 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which accounts for 1.37 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
The total coronavirus cases mounted to 1,08,14,304 and the death toll climbed to 1,54,918 with the novel coronavirus virus claiming 95 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.43%.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a cumulative total of 20,06,72,589 samples have been tested up to February 5 with 7,40,794 samples being tested on Friday.
Third phase of vaccination covering persons aged above 50 likely to begin in March
The third phase of vaccination against the coronavirus is likely to commence in March and will cover 27 crore people aged 50 years and above and those with co-morbidities, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in Lok Sabha on Friday.
Replying to questions on vaccines and the vaccination drive against the coronavirus during the Question Hour, Dr. Vardhan said nearly five million people have been inoculated in the country so far.
He added that the vaccination drive for frontline workers has begun this week.
"In coming days, 27 crore people who are of above 50 years of age and those under 50 with co-morbidities will be vaccinated," Dr. Vardhan said.
CSIR-CFTRI to conduct sero surveillance
In continuation of COVID-19 related activities, the CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, is carrying out Phase 2 Pan-CSIR study on sero surveillance on the contagion.
It is being conducted in collaboration with CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), New Delhi.
The study aims at covering the large population size across CSIR laboratories to assess the sustained immune status of an individual and the extent of herd immunity achieved.
Cannot afford to wait for zero cases to resume classes: Sisodia
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said students need to get back to their normal routine and the government cannot afford to wait for COVID cases to drop to zero in order to resume classes.
Mr. Sisodia, also the Education Minister, inspected the COVID-19 protocols put in place at the Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Gandhi Nagar on Friday when classes resumed for students of Class IX and XII.
Oxford vaccine is protective against the U.K. variant, preprint says
The Oxford vaccine appears to protect people against the new, more transmissible variant (B.1.1.7) first found in Britain in end-November and has since become the dominant one in the U.K. The efficacy of the vaccine against the U.K. variant is comparable with the efficacy against other SARS-CoV-2 virus lineages. The results were posted in a preprint server says. Preprints are yet to be peer-reviewed and published in scientific journals.
No studies were carried out to examine the efficacy of the vaccine against the variant found in South Africa.
Also read: Coronavirus | Updated efficacy results show benefits of delaying second dose of Oxford vaccine
The vaccine efficacy against primary symptomatic disease caused by the new variant was 74.6% as against 84.1% against symptomatic disease caused by other lineages, the preprint says.
7 nursing students taken ill after vaccine jab
Seven girls, studying B.Sc (Nursing) and attached to the SVRR Government Hospital at Tirupati, showed symptoms of dizziness after taking COVID vaccine at the session centre there on Friday evening.
Fresh COVID-19 cases, casualties show a declining trend in Tami Nadu
Fresh COVID-19 cases are on the decline in Tamil Nadu, and so are deaths due to the infection. The last seven-day average deaths is down to five a day, while the case fatality rate (CFR) for the last week has reduced to under 1%.As of February 4, the State registered 12,375 deaths. A majority of them — 10,275 persons, accounting for 82% — had co-morbidities. About 63% of the deceased were aged over 60.
With a dip in fresh infections in the State, deaths due to COVID-19 too have declined.
Devotees with darshan tickets only will be allowed on Ratha Sapthami
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Executive Officer K.S. Jawahar Reddy has made it clear that the devotees with valid darshan tickets alone will be allowed to travel up to Tirumala on the day of Ratha Sapthami festival (February 19) in view of the COVID protocol.
Tens of thousands of devotees converge atop the town to take part in the festival which will be organised from dawn to dusk. A majority of the devotees tend to spend the entire day seated in the mada streets witnessing different processions of the deity. With an intention to minimise the congregation and thereby thwart any minute chances of infections, the TTD resolved to strictly abide by the health protocols.
( With inputs from our Correspondents and agencies )