Coronavirus LIVE updates: Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal too received first doses of the vaccine
Coronavirus
LATEST updates: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivaj Singh Chouhan said he took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur took the first dose of COVID-19 vaccination at AIIMS-Delhi while Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and his wife, Mala Bhagat, took their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the Tirath Ram Shah Hospital.
"We are either donating it ( COVID-19 vaccine) to foreign countries or selling it to foreign countries and are not vaccinating our own people. So there has to be that sense of responsibility and urgency," a bench of the Delhi High Court said.
It also asked the Centre to explain in an affidavit the rationale behind keeping strict control over class of persons who can be vaccinated against COVID-19 currently.
The Delhi High Court Thursday directed Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to disclose their capacities to manufacture Covaxin, Covishield vaccines.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said the two companies — Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech — have more capacity to provide the vaccines but it seems that they are not exploiting it fully. "
Twenty-three states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry.
Six states account for 88.76 percent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (42). Kerala follows with 15 daily deaths and Punjab reported 12 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman received the first dose of a vaccine against COVID-19 . "Fortunate to be in India, where development and dissemination has been prompt and affordable," she said.
A total of 1.66 crore beneficiaries have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in India so far, according to the Union health ministry provisional report.
The daily new cases of COVID-19 in India were recorded above 17,000 after a little over a month taking the total tally to 1,11,56,923 on Thursday.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,08,26,075, taking the national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.03 percent.
A total of 1,57,435 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 52,280 from Maharashtra followed by 12,504 from Tamil Nadu, 12,346 from Karnataka, 10,914 from Delhi, 10,272 from West Bengal, 8,728 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,170 from Andhra Pradesh.
As many as 1,08,26,075 COVID-19 patients have been cured and discharged so far, the Union health ministry said Thursday. With this, the national recovery rate has increased to 97.2 percent.
Over 25,000 beneficiaries, including 13,794 senior citizens, received shots of the COVID-19 vaccine in the national capital on Wednesday, according to data shared by officials.
In the 45-59 years age group, 1,625 beneficiaries received the jabs, a senior official said.
Over 5,100 senior citizens in Delhi had received their first shots of the vaccine on Monday when the second phase of the vaccination drive had begun in the national capital.
"Today, 25,054 people were vaccinated, out of which 13,794 were citizens in the age group of 60 and above," the official said.
On Tuesday, a total of 21,227 beneficiaries, including 10,213 senior citizens and 1,442 people in the age group of 45-59, received the shots.
In the first phase, starting 16 January, over 3.6 lakh beneficiaries comprising healthcare workers and frontline workers, have been vaccinated in Delhi.
Four minor cases of AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) were reported on Wednesday, he said.
The exercise on Wednesday was carried out across 346 sites, as per data shared by officials.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that over 300 centres had been set up at 192 facilities across the city for this phase of the vaccination.
As per official estimates, there are around 43 lakh people in the specified priority category of 60 years or above and those within 45-59 years with comorbidities in Delhi.
People within the age group of 45-59 years with comorbidities are required to produce a comorbidity certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner. A total of 20 comorbidities have been specified for vaccination, the officials said.
People eligible for vaccination also have to carry their photo identity cards, including Aadhaar card, PAN card or voter card.
On Wednesday, second doses were given to 4,196 people, officials said, adding, 3,364 frontline workers and 2,075 healthcare workers were also vaccinated.
