Speaking at a virtual conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Suchitra Ella, joint Managing Director of the city-based vaccine maker, said the company's facilities in four cities -- Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune and Ankaleshwar -- are currently producing Covaxin.
Till date eight cases of the disease have been detected in India, out of which five have foreign travel history, the minister of health and family welfare said.
More than 31 per cent of the country's adult population has been administered both the doses, according to Union Health Ministry officials.
Harsh Vardhan said that 51 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses will be made available by July and 216 crore more between August and December.
This will boost availability of these items as well as make them cheaper, it said, adding that Modi also directed the revenue department to ensure seamless and quick custom clearance of such equipment.
Amid a rise in monkey pox cases globally, the Centre on Thursday asked states to ensure screening and testing of all suspect cases at points of entry and in the community as part of India's preparedness against the disease.
The prime minister also visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi after the milestone was achieved and interacted with hospital officials.
Experts emphasise on the need to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus using strategic and pragmatic approaches in villages as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and towns, which are reporting increased COVID-19 infections and deaths during the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter to the states and union territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan advised implementing strategic interventions for containment like imposition of night curfew, strict regulation of large gatherings, curtailing numbers in marriages and funerals besides increasing testing and surveillance.
'The districts of Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar have been selected for the dry run,' Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said in an official statement.
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.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 2,15,125, while 3,34,821 patients have been cured/discharged.
Whether the third wave will ravage us depends on the pace of vaccinations, careful and calibrated opening up of establishments, and a strategy to contain the spread in specific states or pockets.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said dedicated centres will be set up for the treatment of black fungus or mucormycosis cases at three city government-run hospitals.
After recording the highest COVID-19 cases in Jilin, the authorities there have barred residents from leaving the province and travelling between cities within it.
The active cases comprise 0.07 per cent of the total infections.
It is not confirmed whether the patient was carrying the Omicron variant of coronavirus, which was identified as the variant of concern by the WHO, the official said.
Krunal and Hardik had announced that the family has decided to donate 200 oxygen concentrators to the rural parts of India
The Delhi government has called a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority to discuss steps that need to be taken in view of threat of a new Covid-19 variant from African countries, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday.
India is currently dealing with a devastating second COVID-19 wave that has swept through the nation, crushing the country's health infrastructure and overburdening frontline medical workers.
The apex health research body on Tuesday validated the 1,000th testing laboratory, ramping up the capacity for detection of COVID-19 in the country. Currently, three lakh samples can be tested per day, an official said.
Amid a spike in Covid-19 infections in some parts of the country, the Centre on Wednesday asked states and Union territories to consider imposing local restrictions in public observance of the upcoming festivals and limit or do away with mass gatherings for effective control of the pandemic.
The death toll due to the viral disease went up to 5,15,803 with 89 more fatalities, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.
Active cases decreased by 1,752 in 24 hours and now comprise 0.36 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020. Also, the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.29 per cent, the highest since March last year, the Health Ministry said.
The active cases have reduced to 36,18,458 comprising 14.66 per cent of the total infections.
'Serial testing is much more valuable than a single test which reflects just a point in time.'
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Modi in which it was decided that the CBSE will take steps to compile the results of Class XII students as per a well-defined objective criteria in a time-bound manner.
The death toll mounted to 4,74,735 with the addition of 624 new fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
As many as 422 Omicron cases have been detected across 17 states and Union Territories in India so far and 130 of these people have recovered or migrated, according to Union health ministry data updated on Sunday.
Focused implementation of 'test, track, treat' strategy by the Union and state and Union Territory governments, ramped up hospital infrastructure and testing facilities, and emphasis on treatment of the hospitalised patients through the standard of care protocol advised by the Centre have effectively ensured that mortality of COVID-19 patients is contained, the ministry said.
The Centre's vaccination scheme has created two classes of citizens in India -- those who got Covaxin, whose movements are restricted, and those who received Covishield and can go anywhere -- the Kerala high court said on Tuesday.
While hearing the matter on December 1, the top court had observed that once posters or signages are pasted outside the homes of COVID patients, the people affected are treated as "untouchables", reflecting a different "ground reality".
A decrease of 2,238 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
If the Centre and states are keen on spending more to meet the COVID-19 challenges in the coming year, they must bear in mind the need to raise more resources through taxes and non-tax revenues, suggests A K Bhattacharya.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,06,11,731 which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.31 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.43 per cent.
The death toll from the pandemic has climbed to 4,75,636 with 202 new fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 46 days now.
The ministry of health and family welfare spent Rs 3,948 crore in May this year compared to Rs 7,816 crore in the corresponding month of the previous year. On the other hand, at Rs 12,930 crore, the expenditure had risen almost 200 per cent in April against Rs 4,327 crore in the corresponding month of 2019-20.
The number of fresh cases of the coronavirus infection has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 47 days now.
With 3,536 cases reported on an average in the week ending March 15, India contributed to only 0.21 per cent of global cases, the Union health ministry said.
More than 1.84 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and UTs, while nearly 51 lakh doses are in the pipeline and will be received by them within the next three days, the Union Health Ministry said.
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