Twenty-five lakh potential beneficiaries had registered on the Co-Win portal on Monday, the first day of the second phase of COVID-19 vaccination covering those over 60 and people with specified comorbidities over the age of 45, the Union Health Ministry said.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here . A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the latest updates:
Ravi Shankar Prasad gets anti-coronavirus vaccine shot; pays ₹ 250
Union minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad was administered the first dose of anti-coronavirus vaccine in Patna on Tuesday for which he paid ₹ 250.
He said all the Union ministers have decided to voluntarily pay the price fixed for the vaccine.
"I also got myself administered the made in India vaccine - Covaxin - at AIIMS Patna," Prasad tweeted.
"Though the coronavirus vaccine is free in Bihar, I paid ₹ 250 to the hospital as price for the shot," he said.
Karnataka Minister takes vaccine at home, Centre seeks report
Karnataka Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil has courted controversy by getting himself at the comfort of his home in Hirekerur in gross violation of the COVID-19 protocol.
The minister reportedly summoned the taluk health official and staff to his home and got the vaccine shots for himself and his wife. When the photos became viral, he claimed he was not aware of the protocol.
Terming this as gross violation of Covid vaccination protocols, Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said action would be initiated against the doctors who went to the house of the Minister to give him the shot.
Union Health Secretary Rajeev Bhushan said that the ministry has asked for a report from Karnataka. "This is not allowed and not as per protocol,” he said.
ICMR head Balram Bhargava says “people on blood thinners can take either of the vaccines without any problem. There are some precautions to be followed which are routine and simple.”
CoWIN registration
R.S. Sharma, chairperson, empowered group, COVID vaccination said CoWIN registration system offers best security measures to cut through the possibility of cyber attack.
"We are looking at the flexibility of CoWIN registration system to allow the scale of use expected," he said during a media briefing.
Health Secretary Rajiv Bhushan added that the 2.0 CoWIN system has done away with the time line and vaccination can be done even after 5 pm. - Bindu Shajan Perappadan
90 % of healthcare workers given first dose: Health Ministry
As many as 90% healthcare workers received their first doe so far, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a media briefing. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Odisha lead the list.
As many as 6704856 healthcare workers have received their first dose, while 2598192 have received their second dose as well, he said. - Bindu Shajan Perappadan
Naqvi takes COVID-19 vaccine in Rampur, urges those eligible to get inoculated
Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi took the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur, a day after the start of the second phase of the inoculation drive.
Mr. Naqvi got inoculated at Rampur's K.D. Dalmia Eye Hospital and was administered Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
After getting inoculated, the minister thanked the medical staff at the hospital and urged all those eligible to get themselves vaccinated against COVID-19.
Andhra Pradesh Governor receives COVID-19 vaccine shot
Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan and his wife Suprava Harichandan were administered COVID-19 vaccine at the Government General Hospital in Vijayawada.
"The vaccination was simple. I didn't feel like I was injected. I am feeling well," 86-year-old Harichandan said.
Kerala Health Minister receives first dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the government medical college hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. Her cabinet colleague E Chandrasekharan also received the jab from the same hospital.
Earlier, Minister of Ports and Museums, Kadannappally Ramachandran got the shot from a hospital in his home district, Kannur.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his other cabinet colleagues, belonging to the prescribed age group targetedin the second phase, are also expected to take the vaccine in the coming days.
Farooq Abdullah, wife get first dose of COVID-19 vaccine
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, who is Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, on Tuesday got his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Srinagar.
"Thank you to the doctors, nurses and staff at SKIMS, Srinagar. Today my 85 year old father & my mother had their first COVID jab. My father has a number of health issues including being on immunosuppressants for a kidney transplant. If he can get the vaccine, you should as well," Dr. Abdullah's son and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted.
Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, TN and Gujarat witnessing an upsurge in daily cases
Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are witnessing an upsurge in daily new COVID-19 cases and the Central government has advised these States to be cautious about the rising numbers.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Health Ministry said India’s total active caseload stands at 1.68 lakh (1,68,358) currently. The country added 12,286 new cases in the last 24 hours.
Health Minister Vardhan, wife get COVID-19 vaccine shot
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and his wife took the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute on Tuesday.
The minister's wife Nutan Goel first took the jab after which Mr. Vardhan received the vaccine shot.
Mr. Vardhan on Monday had appealed to all those aged 60 and above and aged 45 and above having specified co-morbidities to immediately take the vaccine.
Mr. Vardhan said that if any death occurs a few days after receiving the jab, it cannot be linked to vaccination because each such death is being scientifically probed.
Ravi Shastri receives first dose of vaccine in Ahmedabad
Enthusiastic senior citizens after getting vaccinated against COVID-19 at Yashoda hospital, Kaushambi near Delhi on Monday, March 1, 2021.
Enthusiastic senior citizens after getting vaccinated against COVID-19 at Yashoda hospital, Kaushambi near Delhi on Monday, March 1, 2021.
The Indian cricket team's head coach Ravi Shastri on Tuesday received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a city hospital here.
Shastri, who is 58, thanked the staff at the Apollo Hospital for their co-operation and support.
"Got the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Thank you to the amazing medical professionals & scientists for empowering India Flag of India against the pandemic, the former India cricketer tweeted.
India's inoculation drive entered its second phase on Monday in which the coverage was expanded to include everyone above 60 and those over 45 with co-morbidities.
"Extremely impressed with the professionalism shown by Kantaben & her team at Apollo, Ahmedabad in dealing with COVID-19 vaccination." However, it is not immediately known whether any other member of the Indian team's support staff was inoculated.
The Indian cricket team is locked in a Test battle against England here.
The fourth and final Test of the rubber will start in Ahmedabad on Thursday. India are currently leading the series 2-1 .
BJP MP Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan dies
Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan, the BJP Lok Sabha member from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, died at a hospital in Gurugram, family sources said on Tuesday.
He was 69.
The six-term MP, who was suffering from COVID-19 and was airlifted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram last month in a serious condition, breathed his last late Monday night, the sources said.
India records 12,286 infections, 91 fatalities
India's COVID-19 cases rose to 1,11,24,527 with 12,286 new infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries have surged to 1,07,98,921, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday.
The death toll increased to 1,57,248 with 91 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,07,98,921 which translates into a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.07 per cent, while the case fatality rate has dropped 1.41 per cent.
The active caseload was recorded at 1,68,358 which accounts for 1.51 per cent of the total infections, the data stated.
Call for lockdowns, curfews in Brazil
Brazilian health officials are urging nationwide lockdowns and curfews because hospitals are running short of intensive-care unit beds as COVID-19 claims more than 1,000 lives each day in the country.
“The return of the pandemic in several states is making their private and their public assistance networks collapse and has brought imminent risk of spreading it to all regions of Brazil,” Brazil's National Council of Health Secretaries said Monday in an open letter, adding that the nation is experiencing its worst moment since the pandemic began.
Last week was Brazil's deadliest of the pandemic, with 8,244 deaths from the virus.
The letter from the council, which represents the nation's 27 health secretaries, suggested lockdowns in cities where no ICU beds are available and in the rest, curfews between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Less than 4 per cent of Brazil's population has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Almost 260,000 people have died from the disease in the South American country.
KMC lab finds new COVID-19 variant with origin in Kurnool
Kurnool Medical College’s VRDL is the first laboratory in South India to collaborate in employing a new protocol – ‘COVIDSeq Next-Generation Sequencing’ – for diagnosis and phylogenetic analysis of SARS nCoV-2 (COVID-19) samples.
This is the next-generation confirmatory test for COVID-19 done at CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, and will be useful for other viruses in the future.
Comorbidities list for vaccine eligibility seen as too narrow
The Union Health Ministry’s list of 20 comorbidities that make people in the 45-59 year age group eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine is seen by some medical professionals as too narrow.
“The list of comorbidities provided by the Health Ministry is overly restrictive and complicated. Many conditions, including obesity, have been left out,” said Dr. Gagandeep Kang, Professor of Microbiology at CMC Vellore.
CICSE class 10 exams from May 5, class 12 papers from April 8
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) will conduct its Class 12 exams from April 8 to June 16 and Class 10 board exams from May 5 to June 7. The board examination results will be declared by July.
Also read:CBSE Class X, XII exams to commence from May 4, schedule includes double shifts for the first time
In 2020, the CISCE’s board examinations were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with all schools shutting their doors from mid-March. Students were evaluated on the basis of internal assessment for the papers they had missed.
A year since first COVID case in TS, concerns about surge prevail
Exactly a year ago, the first COVID-19 case was detected in Telangana. Thereafter, lives of crores of people haven’t been the same. Many lost their parents, children, spouses and dear ones to the infectious virus.
Twelve months later, the pandemic situation is not very different from how it was when the first case was reported on March 2, 2020, although fear of contracting the virus has come down and people hardly seem to have any qualms about letting their guard down.
WHO: ‘Premature,’ ‘unrealistic’ to think COVID-19 will end soon
A senior World Health Organization official said Monday it was “premature” and “unrealistic” to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year, but that the recent arrival of effective vaccines could at least help dramatically reduce hospitalizations and death.
The world’s singular focus right now should be to keep transmission of COVID-19 as low as possible, said Dr. Michael Ryan, director of WHO’s emergencies program.
( With inputs from our Correspondents and agences )
