The first COVID-19 vaccine shots in India were given on Saturday to nearly two lakh frontline healthcare and sanitary workers as Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the world's largest inoculation drive against the pandemic that has caused 1,52,093 deaths and upended millions of lives in the country.
The death toll due to the viral disease has increased to 5,31,584 with 20 more fatalities, including five reconciled by Kerala, being recorded, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The Union health ministry on Thursday termed as 'misleading' and 'fallacious' media reports which claimed that regulatory approval for COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin was rushed due to political pressure.
The vaccine would not have production scalability issues unlike Covaxin, Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 virus vaccine.
A senior health official said the probe will find out how the teenager was given the shot even though the government is yet to roll out any anti-COVID 19 vaccination programme for minors.
India's Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said cricketers will need at least a month of training before resumption of competitive games, which should happen only after a vaccine for the dreaded coronavirus is discovered. Rahane also said that in a coronavirus-scarred world, the lifestyle of cricketers will undergo a change as far as pre and post-match routines are concerned.
China on Wednesday accused the United States for originating COVID-19, claiming America was trying to 'shift the blame' after US President Donald Trump said that the disease was leaked from a Wuhan lab, New York Post reported.
Medical experts have warned that the volume of vaccine available to fight the coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2 in coming years is expected to fall far short of global demand, despite an unprecedented effort to manufacture billions of doses.
Some critics contend that Japan's rush to secure supplies is driven largely by a political desire to show the world it is fully committed to hosting the Games.
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'We really need to look seriously to see if there are any local variants.'
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.
An increase of 494 cases was recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
87 per cent people have received the first dose of the vaccine.
The distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine is underway across the world. To provide a convenient and safe place for people to receive COVID-19 vaccines, countries around the world transform shopping malls, churches, airports, subway stations and museums to vaccination centers. Some also offer vaccination services on the river and mountain.
While India launched the COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16, and has administered over 32.36 crore doses till date, the US which started its inoculation drive on December 14, 2020 has given over 32.33 crore doses.
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.
A 56-year-old man died after he suffered a heart attack on stage while performing the role of Lord Rama at a Ramlila in Vishwakarma Nagar of Shahdara, police on Sunday said.
The COVID-19 vaccine of Biological-E is currently undergoing phase-3 clinical trial after showing promising results in phase 1 and 2 trials.
The toll due to the viral disease increased to 5,30,680 with three more fatalities, including two deaths reconciled by Kerala and one reported from West Bengal in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated.
WHO has urged people at risk to keep up with their vaccinations with boosters.
According to respective company sources, Biological E is holding 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax while Bharat Biotech is sitting on a stockpile of 50 million doses of Covaxin.
There are 1,55,025 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 1.44 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.44 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.30 per cent, according to the ministry.
The active cases comprise 0.31 per cent of the total infections.
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The COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to the 12-14 years age group would be Corbevax manufactured by Biological Evans, Hyderabad.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that more pharma companies should be allowed to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine in the country during the pandemic to scale up production.
Earlier, it was reported that the judges of the apex court would get the option to choose between Covaxin or Covishield vaccines. Later, the Union health ministry, in a clarification, said the judges have not been given any such option to choose between both the vaccines, adding that it will be conducted entirely through Co-Win system.
India reported a single-day rise of 279 new COVID-19 cases, which pushed its tally of the infection to 4,46,72,347, while the count of active cases has declined to 4,855, according to Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday.
These decisions were taken by the ministry based on the fresh recommendations by The National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) and have also been communicated to the states and union territories, an official statement said.
The committee acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic may be approaching an "inflexion point".
Bumrah, Chahar, Kaul get their first dose of COVID vaccine.
'We're getting vaccinated not only for ourselves but also for those around us.'
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 86 crore.
More than 43.29 lakh (43,29,673) doses were administered on Friday, according to a provisional report complied at 7 pm.
According to data available on CoWIN platform, an average of 61.14 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered daily in the week from June 21-27 which dropped to 41.92 lakh doses daily in the subsequent week from June 28-July 4. In the week from July 5 to July 11, the daily average vaccine doses number further dipped to 34.32 lakh doses.
This is an important milestone that paves the way for bringing the company's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to the people of India, and the rest of the world, through a collaboration with Biological E Limited, the statement added.
Besides, around 89 per cent of India's adults have been administered the first dose, according to health ministry officials.
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