The aim of the mission is to accelerate the development of at least six vaccine candidates and ensure that they are licenced and introduced in market for emergency use at the earliest.
On June 14, the World Health Organization designated the Lambda variant, previously known by its formal scientific name C.37, as the seventh and newest "variant of interest".
Tope said only 35,000 vials of Covaxin are currently available with the state government for administering the second dose to the people above 45 years.
The central government should provide for free vaccination to all Indian citizens and greatly ramp up RT-PCR testing in both rural and urban areas, a group of former civil servants said on Thursday in an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Vardhan said that 9.1 crore vaccine doses have been utilised, while 2.4 crore are in stock and 1.9 crore vaccines are in the pipeline, indicating there are sufficient doses available for all states.
Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a high-level review meeting with chief secretaries of states and UTs of Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir.
Amid a spike in Covid-19 cases, the Centre on Monday reviewed with states and Union territories the preparedness for pandemic management and the progress of vaccination.
India' total COVID-19 infections had surpassed the one crore mark on December 19 after which it took around 136 days to cross the two crore mark on May 4.
Most Indians have acquired hybrid immunity which means immunity developed through vaccines and also natural infection protecting them from different COVID-19 variants.
His remarks promoted an instant rebuttal from BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya who termed the statement an "insult to the doctors and scientists of the country".
The Centre and the states need to continue working in collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for COVID-19 prevention and management, Mandaviya said.
It is our only chance of avoiding a repeat of our catastrophic second wave, asserts Naushad Forbes.
From helping their employees infected with the Covid-19 virus to vaccinating them or supporting the families of those who might have succumbed to the infection, several companies in India are trying to do their bit in this difficult time. Some have even widened their support net to include all stakeholders as well as an extended community. To the families of the employees it lost to Covid-19, Noida-headquartered IT services and consulting company HCL Technologies is, for instance, paying salary for a year, medical insurance for three years and extending support for their children's education for five years.
The daily rise in coronavirus cases in India remained below the 3 lakh-mark for the seventh consecutive day, with 2.4 lakh new cases recorded in a single day, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.
A large number of youths in the country perished to the coronavirus in the second wave of the pandemic, he said, adding their lives could have been saved if the vaccines were given to them instead of exporting the doses.
'We really need to look seriously to see if there are any local variants.'
This is for the first time that Maharashtra is going through such "worst situation", she said, and held the Union government responsible for it.
So vaccinate employees and families, staff at home, rickshaw drivers, milkmen, service providers, shopkeepers and street vendors, says Naushad Forbes.
Tope also informed that the Centre has asked the state to reduce the number of inoculation centers from 511 to 350, saying the government should focus on other emergencies also.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday took stock of the COVID-19 situation in the state, shortly after her swearing-in ceremony, and announced fresh curbs to combat the spread of COVID-19, including suspension of local train services.
The new outbreak may be the greatest wave of illnesses ever recorded since China's stringent zero-Covid programme was abandoned last winter, which resulted in up to 85 per cent of the population being sick at the time.
Winning against Covid means thinking ahead, at least six months, putting in place the likely scenarios of what might happen, and then planning. Planning is the role of the government. Having planned, it should communicate what and why. Then, get out of the way, recommends Naushad Forbes.
"The country wide vaccination exercise is being exponentially expanded to include those above 60 years of age and those above 45 years with co-morbidities, from March 1.
Two male volunteers were administered the vaccine at Bharti Vidyapeeth's Medical College and Hospital, a senior office-bearer of the hospital said.
'Even if Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech were successful in ramping up production overnight, what happens to the capacity after the demand from India is met?' asks Sanjeev Nayyar.
We need to give a booster shot to all our frontline workers first as if they fall victim to Omicron, the health system will collapse, points out Ramesh Menon.
Each of these medical facilities will have a capacity of 2,000 beds, including 200 ICU beds and 70 per cent oxygen beds, and they will be set up at three different locations in the city
A total of 1,226 cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been reported in the country so far with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh recording the highest number of cases till now, according to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) on Thursday.
As the global debate on booster shots gathers momentum, several scientists in New Delhi said the priority must be to ensure that more people are inoculated with at least their first jab.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the COVID-19 vaccination drive will be extended in the coming days and asserted that there should not be any misconceptions about the two Indian vaccines being administered in the country.
The Maharashtra government on Saturday evening announced suspension of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the state till Monday owing to problems in the Co-Win app.
During the 76th episode of his 'Mann ki Baat' radio programme, Modi urged people to seek information only through reliable sources regarding the prevailing situation. "I urge people to not fall prey to any rumours about vaccination. You all must be aware that the Government of India has sent free vaccines to all State Governments. All people above 45 years of age can benefit from this. From May 1, vaccines will be available for every person above 18 years of age," he said.
'Someone may have diabetes, but at what level the disease qualifies as a comorbid condition is something a doctor will decide upon and certify accordingly.'
The cost of not vaccinating the entire population quickly will be far higher than bearing the entire cost of vaccination, points out Prosenjit Datta.
'The first duty of the government is to learn lessons from a bad experience and course correct. It's a pity that the government is making policy without looking at evidence and differentiating between immediate and urgent.'
An alert government in Delhi should have begun government-to-government discussions with Moscow the moment it came to know that Russians were developing a vaccine. That is to say, almost an year's time has been lost, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Addressing a press conference, NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul said concerns about adverse effects and serious problems post immunisation, as of now, seem to be unfounded, negligible and insignificant, and stressed that both the vaccines -- Covishield and Covaxin -- are safe.
Registering a steady increase for the 17th day in row, the active cases have increased to 4,52,647 comprising 3.80 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 94.85 per cent, the data stated.
The efficacy of the vaccine, developed by the Gamalaya Centre, was demonstrated on the basis of a first interim analysis obtained 21 days after the first injection.
The second dose of anti-coronavirus vaccine will be administered to healthcare workers from February 13, the Centre said on Thursday, highlighting that 45 per cent of them have been inoculated so far.
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