Children below the age of 15 years account for about 10 to 12 per cent of India's overall TB burden.
The Universal Immunisation Programme is one of the largest vaccination projects in the world aimed at protecting children and pregnant mothers from preventable diseases. Under it, the government provides shots for 12 vaccine-preventable diseases, such as polio, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, and hepatitis B, for free.
In a letter to the principal health secretary of Maharashtra that was also marked to all states and Union Territories (UTs), the Union Health Ministry said this surge is of particular concern from the public health point of view.
According to the petitioner, P G Hari, who is a homoeopathy practitioner in Wayanad and president of the 'Jankeeya Manushyavakasasamrakhana Prasthanam' (Organisation Fighting for Protection of People's Rights), "adverse effects" of the vaccine had been reported from Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh and no proper studies were conducted before it was introduced in India
Of the 23.9 million vaccinators who provide vaccination under the universal immunisation programme, 15.4 million will be used for Covid vaccination.
India has the capacity to store vaccines that may require a lower temperature in the range of -15 to -20 degrees Celsius and there are over 29,000 cold chain points (CCPs) across the country where vaccines are stored at the recommended temperatures, the Centre has told the Supreme Court.
The Centre has started the process of identifying around 30 crore priority beneficiaries who will be given vaccine in the initial phase. The Centre will procure the vaccine directly and make it available free-of-cost for the priority beneficiaries.
While there is a continuous increasing trend in COVID-19 cases and deaths globally, particularly in America and Europe and the situation in the world is becoming worrisome, in contrast the scene in India is satisfying as the cases and deaths are declining, Dr V K Paul, member (health) at NITI Aayog, told a press conference.
Apart from the 1.1 crore doses of Covishield being procured from the Serum Institute of India, 55 lakh doses of indigenously developed Covaxin were being obtained from Bharat Biotech, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press conference.
'Ultimately, we have to understand that we don't have the supply at the population scale. 'Therefore, it has to be prioritised.' 'That's what the government has done.'
Five vaccine candidates are in advanced stages of development in India, out of which four are in Phase II/III and one is in Phase-I/II trials.
Each person in the immunisation list would be linked with their Aadhaar cards to avoid duplication and to track beneficiaries.
'The government should put the whole road map together for the vaccine and decide how industry can support...' 'They should allow the private sector to vaccinate.'
A model being considered is to have a combined cold chain approach - where the agricultural cold chain would be combined with vaccine cold chains.
Modi government's health ministry is good at making new claims but there is no visible sign of any new programme being initiated, finds out Manoj K.
Over the last four days, the Indian arm of US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Pune-based Serum Institute of India and Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech have applied to the Drugs Controller General of India seeking emergency use authorisation for their COVID-19 vaccines.
'A third wave is possible, but we must try to restrict it to a low level by adopting all personal protection and public policy measures to prevent viral transmission, while speeding up vaccination.'
Some vaccine frontrunners are in advanced stages of trial and could hit the market by early next year, making the task of securing "last mile connectivity" and ensuring that nothing goes wrong before the shot is administered more urgent.
Interacting with state chief ministers, Modi underscored the enormity of what he described as the world's biggest vaccination exercise, which begins from January 16, saying over 30 crore citizens will get the jabs in the next few months in India against only 2.5 crore people vaccinated so far in over 50 countries in around a month.
A massive pan-India inoculation drive against COVID-19 was set in process on Tuesday with more than 56 lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine flown to 13 cities across India from Pune and taken to designated national and state-level stores amid tight security.
'Rolling out the vaccine is not a major challenge in India.'
'We are already exhausted, but we can't give up.' 'The battle is still on.' 'We will see some respite by December 2021.'
Pneumonia and diarrhoea have collectively claimed the lives of over three lakh children in India in 2013, posing a major challenge to public health in the country, a report said.
'This is a tragedy that must be stopped.'
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