States have been directed to identify at least one Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) management centre in each block to ensure that any adverse reaction or side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine could be rapidly contained, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan at a press conference on Tuesday.
“The countries where vaccination has already begun, especially in the UK, adverse events took place on the very first day. So, it is essential that the States and UTs [Union Territories] prepare for this too,’’ he said.
NITI Aayog member (health) Dr. V.K. Paul said this was an adult vaccine, which would be administrated at such a large scale for the first time and ddn’t begin from the hospital setting. “This will need extra caution,’’ he noted.
India currently had 6 proposed COVID-vaccines undergoing clinical trials and three were seeking emergency use authorisation. “Also the Drugs Controller General of India granted clearance for clinical trials for one more candidate vaccine from India -- the novel mRNA vaccine candidate, HGCO19, which has been developed by Gennova, Pune, and is supported by the government. The vaccines will be stable at 2-8°C for two months and thus enable us to use our available cold chains,’’ he stated.
In India, though case mortality was declining, the situation should not be taken for granted. “Most of us are still susceptible. Uttarakhand, Himachal, and Nagaland are States, where the situation is a matter of concern. This is a devastating disease. It could cause a mild disease but can also take a serious turn as we have seen in the case of reported fungal infection at a hospital in Delhi. The infection caused patients lose eyesight,’’ said Dr. Paul pointed out.
Giving details of the preparation under way to ensure safe and effective vaccination of the population, Mr. Bhushan said adequate cold chain infrastructure had been made available across India.
“Guidelines for estimation of electrical and non-electrical cold chain equipment and their strengthening have been issued and 29,000 cold chain points, 240 walk-in coolers, 70 walk-in freezers, 45,000 ice-lined refrigerators, 41,000 deep freezers and 300 solar refrigerators will be used for the vaccination drive,’’ he said.
Data of cases, recoveries
As per data released by the Health Ministry on Tuesday, the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours has fallen under 22,100, with the case count standing at 22,065 after 161 days. The added cases were 22,252 on July 7.
With this, the active cases have drastically declined below 3.4 lakh, with the total positive cases being 3,39,820 and comprising 3.43% of the total cases, it claimed.
“The slide in the active cases is supplemented by an exponential rise in the recoveries. The total recovered cases have crossed 94 lakhs [94,22,636] and the gap between the active cases and the recovered cases is continuously increasing and currently stands at 90,82,816. The national recovery rate has further escalated to 95.12%,’’ it stated.
Highest recovery rate
India’s recovery rate is one of the highest in the world for countries with high caseload. This includes the U.S., Italy, Russia and Brazil.
As per the data released by the Ministry, 34,477 had recovered and discharged in the last 24 hours. 74.24% of the new recoveries were observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs.
Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of single-day recoveries: 4,610. It was 4,481 in Kerala and 2,980 in West Bengal. Maharashtra still had the highest daily new cases, at 2,949; followed by Kerala (2,707) and West Bengal (1,834).
India has also reported 354 case fatalities in the past 24 hours, with Maharashtra and Delhi both reporting 60 new deaths. West Bengal follows with 43 daily deaths