BackCovid vaccine: Cumulative number of dosage crosses 122 crore
The Union Health Ministry said on Sunday, the cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 122 crore.
PremiumThe Union Health Ministry said on Sunday, the cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 122 crore.
The Health Ministry said that over 36.5 lakh (36,58,756) doses were administered on Sunday till 7 pm and this tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.
The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1. The government then decided to expand the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has said on Saturday that the cumulative Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 121.84 crore.
Over 73 lakh (73,74,792) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Saturday. While the countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase, the vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2.
It is worth noting that the active cases have declined to 1,07,019 comprising 0.31 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.34 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the health ministry said.
Last week citing multiple surges in coronavirus cases in several countries, the the Union Health Ministry has written to 13 states and union territories, including West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and Punjab, expressing concerns over declining weekly testing rates and spiking positivity rates in some districts.
In a letter to Nagaland, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Kerala, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Ladakh, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan stressed on maintaining high testing rates given the recent increase in travelling due to events like marriages, festivals and vacations that have recently concluded or are underway.
"A decrease in testing would undermine the actual infection spread within the community," Bhushan said in the letter.
Also, with the onset of winter and increased pollution in some states, prevalence of ILI/SARI and respiratory distress symptoms should be closely monitored, with tests being conducted regularly for timely monitoring and clustering of cases for early hotspot identification, the official underlined.
"In the absence of sustained levels of sufficient testing, it is very difficult to determine the true level of infection spread in a geography. With a majority of countries seeing multiple surges in Covid cases in recent times and a few developed countries facing even fourth and fifth waves despite high levels of Covid vaccination, there is a need for continued vigil given the unpredictable and contagious nature of the disease.
"Hence, all efforts must be implemented to preserve the gains made so far and to prevent deterioration of COVID-19 scenario across the country," the secretary said.
All the 13 states and UTs have been given the same advice though each letter mentions state-specific testing details of particular districts and positivity rates.
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