The Union Health Ministry on Friday announced that those above the age of 18 years who have completed nine months after the administration of the second dose will be eligible for the precaution dose.
Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 31,70,228 comprising 16.90 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further dropped to 81.99 per cent.
In a statement, the DGCA said it will be conducting "random checks" in aircraft across the country to see if the COVID-19 protocol is being enforced or not.
Top officials of health ministry on Thursday informed a parliamentary panel that there are 23 cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 and authorities are closely monitoring the situation, government sources said.
The Centre has denied political clearance to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for his visit to Paris to support the Indian Hockey team at the Olympic Games, an official source said on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday officially conferred the 'Order of St Andrew the Apostle' award by Russian President Vladimir Putin for his contribution to fostering bilateral ties between the two countries.
The active caseload now comprises 2.96 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 95.67 per cent, the ministry data updated at 8 am stated.
India on Saturday recorded 89,129 new COVID-19 cases in a day, the highest daily rise in around six-and-half-months, taking the nationwide tally of infections to over 1.23 crore, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Saturday.
The health ministry further informed that in addition to 162 plants already sanctioned, the states have requested Centre for more than 100 such additional plants which are also being sanctioned.
The budgetary allocation for the sector is Rs 60,908.22 crore, with Rs 6,400 crore earmarked for the centre's flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY).
Finance ministry considers tax sops, regulation of hospitals to make health care affordable.
The ministry said that states can also develop their own protocol with regards to quarantine and isolation as per their assessment.
The top 300 pharmaceutical brands in the country will now bear a quick response (QR) code on their packaging to rein in spurious drugs and ensure better traceability.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 21,22,30,431 samples have been tested up to February 22 with 6,78,685 samples being tested on Monday.
The death toll climbed to 1,49,435 with the novel coronavirus virus claiming 217 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country.
All these persons have been kept in single room isolation at designated health care facilities by respective state governments and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine, the ministry said.
India logged 18,987 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally to 3,40,20,730 on Thursday, while the national Covid recovery rate increased to 98.07 per cent, according to the Union health ministry's data.
The national Covid recovery rate was recorded at 98.10 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
India recorded 4,03,738 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day, which pushed the tally to 2,22,96,414, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.50 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was 2.63 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 71 days.
The number of people who have recovered from the disease has risen to 3,02,69,796, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.33 per cent, the data stated.
A single-day rise of 34,457 Covid-19 cases pushed India's tally to 3,23,93,286 on Saturday, while the number of active cases declined to 3,61,340, the lowest in 151 days, according to Union health ministry data.
The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded as 98.74 per cent, the ministry said.
The top court said since the remit of the panel has been expanded, the committee would submit its report by September 30 on various measures to rectify deficiencies in the examination system.
Head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at Indian Council of Medical Research Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said 80 out of 100 infected people do not show any symptoms.
With an eye on improving quality assurance in the wake of increased global scrutiny on Indian pharma products, the Centre on Tuesday said that Schedule M of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 will be made compulsory for small and medium scale manufacturers in a phased manner. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has asked micro-small and medium enterprises in pharma manufacturing to move towards good manufacturing practices (GMP) through self regulation. "This will help in quality assurance and also reduce compliance burden," Mandaviya.
The Kingdom has decided against renewing the contracts of foreign doctors who have completed 20 years in service.
'The more people get tested, the more people will come under isolation. So the spread will get limited with testing.'
'The police is there to protect Indian citizens, but now we have cops entering the hospitals and ransacking even the ICUs.'
The number of active cases has risen to 3,40,639, comprising 1.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 97.65 per cent, according to the data updated by the ministry at 8 am.
India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 200-crore mark on Sunday.
India logged 16,135 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,35,18,564, while the active cases increased to 1,13,864, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Monday.
Registering a steady increase for the 39th day in a row, the active cases stand at 18,01,316, comprising 12.18 per cent of the total infections.
A notice issued by the Indian Health Ministry at the weekend said that a government-appointed committee of experts had found that the banned combinations were "likely to involve risk to human beings, whereas safer alternatives to the said drug are available."
A study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has observed that COVID-19 vaccination did not increase the risk of unexplained sudden death among young adults in India, the government informed Parliament on Friday.
With 338 more fatalities, the death toll due to coronavirus reached 1,44,789, while the total COVID-19 cases mounted to 99,79,447, the data updated at 8 am showed.
A total of 1,660 fresh cases have pushed the country's COVID-19 tally to 4,30,18,032, while the number of active cases has fallen below 20,000, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am.
The positivity rate has been less than three per cent for 25 consecutive days.
The active cases have declined to 4,08,212 and comprise 1.30 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 97.36 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
"As of now, there are no norms and regulations under the National Medical Commission to accommodate medical students, who were studying abroad and had to return to India midway, in Indian medical colleges in between an academic session," a health ministry official told PTI, on the condition of anonymity.
