A total of 9,674 precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the 18-59 years age-group on the first day on Sunday taking the cumulative doses given in the country to 185.74 crore, the Union health ministry said.
The Union health ministry has reduced the gap between the second and precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine for all beneficiaries from nine to six months following a recommendation by National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).
Modi also directed officials to work with states to ensure that the pace of testing does not go down as testing remains a very important weapon to track and contain rising infections in any region.
The Union Health Ministry said on Monday that the Co-WIN app on Play Store is meant for use only by administrators, and that registration and booking for appointment for COVID-19 vaccination has to be done through the portal.
The vaccine would not have production scalability issues unlike Covaxin, Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 virus vaccine.
'iNCOVACC' is priced at Rs 800 for private markets and at Rs 325 for supplies to the government of India and state governments.
The West Bengal government is issuing certificates of COVID-19 vaccination to the people in the age group of 18-44 sponsored by the state with the photograph of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
'In the earlier waves, doubling of cases was happening at an interval of 4-6 days.' 'But in the case of omicron the doubling time we are seeing is in the range of 2-4 days.'
The Centre told the apex court that it has not issued any SOP that makes it mandatory to carry the vaccination certificate for any purpose.
According to the health ministry, advance appointments for vaccination can be booked through http://cowin.gov.in, or one can visit their nearest vaccination center after 3 pm and get on-site registration done.
'Centres like polling booths can be set up for the area till the last adult is vaccinated -- open on all days from 9-9.' 'People should be able to come as per their convenience.'
According to sources, the filters were applied on Saturday night soon after the poll schedule was announced.
India's sprawling digital public infrastructure received a glowing endorsement from billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Wednesday as he praised the country's "great" digital network, reliable and low-cost connectivity, and said this will be the cheapest 5G market. Under the G20 presidency of India, a session on 'Building resilient and inclusive economies- the Promise of Digital Public Infrastructure' was held on Wednesday in New Delhi, where the Microsoft co-founder spoke of India's digital identity Aadhaar, its payment infrastructure, and rapid strides that the country has taken in bringing more people into formal banking system. "India in particular, by laying the groundwork for digital public infrastucture starting with identity system, allows people to build on top of that.
The digital transformation should not be confined to a small part of the "human race" and its greater benefits will be realised only when digital access becomes "truly inclusive", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the G-20 summit on Wednesday. Modi also strongly pitched for a pledge by the G-20 leaders to work for bringing digital transformation into the life of every human being in the next 10 years so that no person is deprived of the benefits of the new technologies. In a session on digital transformation, the prime minister also said that principle of "data for development" will be an integral part of the overall theme of India's upcoming G-20 Presidency.
The central government had announced that the vaccination for those above 18 years will begin across the country from May 1 as part of the third phase of the inoculation drive.
Presently, people have to download their vaccination certificate by logging into the CoWin portal.
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The Kerala high court has directed the Centre to allow scheduling, on CoWIN portal, of second Covishield dose after four weeks from the first for those who want to take it earlier than the present suggested gap of 84 days.
On media reports quoting some Maharashtra government officials that vaccines in the state are "finished" and adversely impacting the vaccination drive, the ministry said a balance of 7,49,960 vaccine doses is still available with the state for administration to eligible population groups.
Personal data of thousands of people in India has been leaked from a government server which includes their name, mobile number, address and Covid test result, and these information can be accessed through online search.
As the COVID-19 vaccination of children falling into the age bracket of 15 to 18 years is scheduled to begin from January 3, the Kerala health department has prepared an action plan for inoculation of all eligible beneficiaries.
'We are trying to salvage 50-100 million doses of Covishield with the latest drive on booster doses.'
The decision empowers pregnant women to make an informed choice on taking the Covid vaccination, the ministry said, adding these women can now register on CoWIN or walk-in to the nearest Covid vaccination centre to get themselves inoculated.
The vaccination drive was only one important part of India's globally recognised pandemic management and response strategy, observes Dr Vinod K Paul.
According to the advance visibility provided by the Centre to states and Union territories, a total of 5.86 crore Covid vaccine doses will be provided free of cost to them from May 1 to June 15, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday.
Serum Institute of India has urged Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to consider reducing the gap between the second and the precaution dose of Covishield from the current nine months to three, in line with Centre's revised guidelines for officials on election duty, official sources said on Thursday.
The Union health ministry has directed states to identify all left-out people and ensure everyone gets their Covid jab through initiatives such as workplace vaccination, as part of the government's "Har Ghar Dastak" campaign. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a review meeting on vaccination progress with Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Puducherry on Monday. In a tweet, the minister said, "Spoke about augmenting Govt's #HarGharDastak vaccine campaign. Requested help from religious leaders, NGOs & political groups to speed-up vaccination coverage." Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan has asked state officials that workplace vaccination should be organised for targeting people due for their doses.
For the first time in two years, schools in the national capital will reopen completely in offline mode from April 1 with the hybrid mode of operation coming to an end.
Healthcare and frontline workers and citizens above 60 years of age with comorbidities would be administered the third dose of the same vaccine they had been given before.
The Centre has said that on-site registration for COVID-19 inoculation for healthcare and frontline workers aged 18 to 44 years will now only be available at government COVID vaccination centres.
Facts, they say, don't lie. Nor do figures. R Ramakumar, professor at Mumbai's Tata Institute of Social Sciences, demolishes the Government of India's vaccination claims.
The urgent need to address a large number of beneficiaries waiting for second dose of vaccine was stressed in a meeting held by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Dr R S Sharma, the Chairman of Empowered Group on Technology and Data Management to Combat COVID-19, with state officials to review the status of COVID-19 vaccination on Tuesday.
India is investing in developing indigenous capabilities in 5G and 6G telecom technologies besides focusing on manufacturing semi-conductors, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday. In a virtual address at the Sydney Dialogue, the prime minister said the "greatest product" of technology today is data and that India has created a robust framework of data protection, privacy and security. "And, at the same time, we use data as a source of empowerment of people. India has unmatched experience in doing this in a democratic framework with strong guarantees of individual rights," he said.
Modi said he appreciates all doctors, medical staff, and people in administration in the country for this effort.
It asked users to be alert against all attempts of phishing through fake domains, emails and text messages that promise registration for a jab against the pandemic.
Some residents also wondered if this was a bid to "divert people to private hospitals" for paid jabs rather than getting free vaccine doses at government centres.
Activist Raman Sharma had filed a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, seeking to know from the government the number of people who had received the first dose of vaccines -- Covishield and Covaxin -- but did not take the second within the stipulated time period.
About 50 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Nigeria and Panama, have shown interest in having a Co-WIN like system to run their vaccination drive, a senior official said on Monday, adding India is ready to share the open source software free of cost.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for the setting up of a high-power police technology mission under the leadership of the Union home minister to adopt future technologies for grassroot policing requirements.
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