Covid-19 wrap-up: India vaccinates 70% adults with first dose

As the nation enter the month of October amidst fear of a third Covid-19 wave, all eyes are now on vaccines for children

India on Monday achieved another milestone of vaccinating 70 per cent of the target population with the first vaccine dose against Covid-19. The country has fully vaccinated over 25 per cent of the target population of 95 crore.

However, India still has a long way to go to vaccinate its entire target population, a feat that has already been achived by one country so far.

Portugal's vaccine story is one for all countries to see. It is now among the world’s leaders in highest vaccinations. About 98 per cent of all of those eligible for vaccines — meaning anyone over 12 — have been fully vaccinated in Portugal.

Still, India's achievement comes as a relief as multiple studies have shown that vaccination reduces the chances of hospitalisation. Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department J Radhakrishnan recently pointed out that nearly 90 per cent of people who succumbed to Covid-19 in state-run hospitals in Tamil Nadu over the last two months had not received even a single vaccine dose.

"Vaccination has become the prime strategy to combat the virus. People who are in the ICU after being infected by Covid-19, are also those who have not been vaccinated at all..," he told reporters.

As of now, the declining trend in the number of Covid-19 cases across the country is continuing. Daily cases of coronavirus in the country remained below 30,000 for the tenth straight day with 20,799 fresh infections recorded in a single day, while the active cases declined to 2,64,458, the lowest in 200 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

On the grim side, however, worldwide deaths related to Covid-19 have surpassed 50 lakh as the Delta variant causes a surge in fatalities, mainly among the unvaccinated. The variant has exposed the wide disparities in vaccination rates between rich and poor nations, and the upshot of vaccine hesitancy in some western nations.

As the nation enters the month of October amidst fear of a third wave, all eyes are now on vaccines for children. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has kickstarted preparations to inoculate children across the city amid speculation of the rollout of Covid-19 vaccine for children by the end of October.

With talks under way between the central government and Zydus Cadila over the pricing of the Covid-19 vaccine ZyCov-D, the pharma company is learnt to have proposed a price of Rs 1,900 for its three-dose jab that can be given to those above 12 years of age. However, the government is negotiating a reduction in price and a final decision on it is likely to be taken this week, sources in the know told PTI.

Meanwhile, Covaxin manufacturer Bharat Biotech has submitted the trial data for its coronavirus vaccine in 2-18-year-olds to the Drugs Comptroller General of India (DCGI) for approval, chairman and managing director Krishna Ella told a TV channel. The Hyderabad-based company, the maker of India's first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, completed Phase-2 and Phase-3 trials of Covaxin on children below 18 years of age in September. Covaxin is yet to be given the EUL (emergency use listing) by WHO.

In a major development, India, last week, hit back at the UK government over "discriminatory" Covid norms for visitors arriving from India by imposing reciprocal curbs on the British visitors. Right after India's tit-for-tat move, the Boris Johnson-led government on Saturday updated its official advisory for its nationals travelling to India. The updated travel advisory by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) noted an additional Covid-19 test on day eight and a 10-day mandatory quarantine for all travellers going to India from Britain from Monday.

Meanwhile, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Chief Dr Randeep Guleria criticised the UK government for setting different rules for Indians fully vaccinated with Covishield that was invented in the UK itself, and said it lacked scientific basis.

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