Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday sought keen oversight and personal indulgence of health ministers, principal secretaries and additional chief secretaries of states and union territories to lead the second nationwide mock drill on the COVID-19 vaccination scheduled to be held on January 8.
The Union health ministry said in a statement on Monday that over 23,000 adverse events have been reported since the vaccination drive involving Covishield and Covaxin vaccines started in the country and of these 700 cases were reported to be serious.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama was administered the first dose of anti-coronavirus vaccine at Zonal Hospital Dharamsala on Saturday morning.
Asked if the government has decided to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to the entire population free of cost on priority basis and if so, the target fixed to administer the doses, the health minister said according to Revised Guidelines for Implementation of National COVID Vaccination Program, which came into effect from June 21, all citizens aged 18 years and above, irrespective of their income status, are entitled to free vaccination at all government vaccination centres.
The court said young people are being affected more this time round, and lot of young lives have been lost.
This week, global drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech said their COVID-19 vaccine candidate is 95 per cent effective, including in adults over 65 years of age.
"Proud of all those who are making our vaccination drive a success," Modi said.
The death toll climbed to 5,25,199 with 31 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
Referring to the deadly second wave of COVID-19, the HC expressed hope the next year would bring a new beginning and that people will never see a repeat of April 2021.
About 18-19 coronavirus vaccine candidates are in different clinical trial stages and may be available in the coming months, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday.
Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech have also stopped producing the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines respectively.
According to the health ministry, the block task force would be tasked with resolving bottlenecks, thus de-centralising planning and preparedness for vaccine introduction.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation said while the rights, safety, and well-being of trial subjects were of paramount importance, protocol amendment, deviation or modification might be necessary in some cases owing to unavoidable circumstances.
The active cases comprise 0.43 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March last year.
Considering the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, the administration in Maharashtra's Pune district has directed schools and colleges to remain shut till March 31 and curtailed the operating time for hotels and restaurants.
Union Health Secretary said that priority groups have been decided who are vulnerable to mortality.
The Centre on Tuesday said that by July or early August, there will be enough COVID-19 vaccine to inoculate one crore people a day.
Thackeray wrote that the young generation is also getting infected by the virus, and to prevent the spread, people above 25 years be made eligible for vaccination.
India saw a single day rise of 58,077 coronavirus infections, which took the tally of cases to 4,25,36,137, while the active cases have declined to 6,97,802, according to Union health ministry data updated on Friday.
"The Indian Medical Association has requested all its 3.5 lakh members in 1,800 local branches to voluntarily come out to get vaccinated first to show the world that these vaccines are safe and efficacious," it said.
Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, the Indian Medical Association has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that vaccination be allowed for all people above the age of 18 years.
The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.75 per cent, the ministry said.
"Corona vaccine is the need of the country. You all should also raise your voice for it. Everyone has the right to a safe life," he said in a tweet.
"The concrete actions are a stern indication that Government of India is making all out efforts to increase vaccine production in the country as well as attracting foreign vaccine manufacturers to supply the required vaccine doses for national Covid vaccination programme," the ministry in a statement.
More than 90 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and Union territories which will receive over 7 lakh additional doses in the next three days, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.
Israel and Bhutan, however small, illustrate what governments can do, and the mountains they can move, if they really care for their citizens.
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 1,12,62,707 with 17,921 fresh cases being reported in a day, while the recoveries surpassed 1.09 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
Shah said that the complaint was lodged based on the provisional certificate which he got after receiving the shot at a vaccination centre on Thursday morning.
'Our study shows a greater risk reduction for people who received an mRNA vaccine after having received a first dose of a vector-based, as compared to people having received the vector-based vaccine for both doses,' Nordstrom said.
The active cases comprise 0.05 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.74 per cent, the ministry said.
With the administration of nearly 80 lakh vaccine doses in a span of 24 hours, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 158.04 crore as per provisional reports till 7 am.
World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday thanked Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya for announcing resumption of COVID-19 vaccine shipments to the COVAX global pool in October.
States like Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra reported 7.08 per cent, 3.95 per cent, 3.91 per cent, 3.78 and 3.63 per cent and 3.59 per cent respectively.
A number of Indian medical experts on Monday supported calls from an eminent British Indian cardiologist for a full safety review into the use of Oxford/AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, administered in India as Covishield, over feared serious side effects such as heart attack and stroke.
As for Bharat Biotech, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the CDSCO asked the firm to expedite volunteer recruitment for the ongoing clinical trial and said it may conduct interim efficacy analysis for further consideration of restricted emergency use approval for its vaccine Covaxin, they stated.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,11,39,457, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.
"Kerala has received 73,38,806 doses of vaccine from Central government. We have provided 74,26,164 doses, even making use of the extra dose available as wastage factor in each vial. Our health workers, especially nurses have been super efficient and deserve our wholehearted appreciation!," Vijayan had tweeted.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances