Covid vaccination for 15 to 18-year-olds underway in Delhi. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)Covid-19 India Highlights: Amid a steady rise in Covid-19 cases in India, cities across the country kick-started the Covid vaccination for teenagers, aged between 15 to 18 years, on Monday. The Union Health Ministry had announced that Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will be administered to eligible children — in two doses 28 days apart.
Delhi, which has been witnessing a steady rise in Covid-19 cases, reported 4,099 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the positivity rate to 6.46% from 4.59% a day ago. One more person died out of the infection. Mumbai, on the other hand recorded 7,928 fresh Covid-19 cases pushing the test positivity rate of 16.39 per cent. The city also recorded two related deaths in the past 24 hours, a BMC health bulletin said.
In Pune, 40 centres have Covaxin doses, whereas Delhi has set up 159 government-run centres for the age group. In Mumbai, vaccination for children will be carried out at nine jumbo centres (Richardson and Crudas at Byculla, NESCO jumbo centre, NSCI at Worli, BKC jumbo centre and jumbo centres at Kanjurmarg, Malad, Mulund and Dahisar).
Meanwhile, India on Monday reported 33,750 fresh Covid-19 cases and 123 deaths. With 10,846 recoveries, the country’s active caseload stood at 1,45,582.
According to the Union Ministry of Health, the Omicron tally in the country has reached 1,700, of which 639 have recovered or been discharged. Maharashtra topped the count with 510 Omicron cases, followed by Delhi with 351 cases.
Vaccine Centre at a Govt Dispensary in New Delhi, Saturday, 01 Jan 2022 (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)
Haryana’s fresh surge in Covid cases of late, data shows, includes at least 63 cases of Omicron variant that have been detected till January 2 (Sunday). According to the state health department, out of these, at least 58 patients were fully vaccinated, and only five were un-vaccinated.
The 58 who were vaccinated include 32 people from Gurgaon, six each from Faridabad and Karnal, three each from Yamunanagar and Panipat, four in Kurukshetra, two in Hisar and one each in Panchkula and Rohtak. Read more
Amid rapidly rising cases of Covid-19, physical attendance of government servants below level of under secretary has been restricted to 50 per cent. Persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees have also been exempted from attending office.
Amid rising cases of Covid-19, Jharkhand government on Monday ordered chool, colleges, gyms, swimming pools and parks to be kept shut till January 15.
Amid rising Covid-19 cases across the country, Personnel Ministry on Monday suspended biometric attendance for government employees till January 31, an official order stated.
Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said, "A member of my family and one of my staff have tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. I have tested negative today however the doctor has advised that I remain isolated and test again after a few days."
The Union health ministry on Monday dismissed media reports alleging that expired vaccines are being administered in the country under its COVID-19 vaccination programme as “false and misleading”.
“There have been some media reports alleging that expired vaccines are being administered in India under its national COVID-19 vaccination programme. This is false and misleading and based on incomplete information,” the ministry said in a statement. --PTI
Delhi reports 4,099 fresh cases, one death in the last 24 hours; Active caseload at 10,986, Positivity rate at 6.46%
Kerala on Monday (January 3) reported 29 new Omicron variant covid-19 cases, taking the total confirmed cases to 181. Of the total Omicron cases, 109 had travel history from countries reckoned as low risk, while 52 from high risk countries. Twenty others got infected through contact.Health Minister Veena George said 42 persons infected with Omicron have so far turned negative for the variant. "At present, only 139 persons are receiving treatment. Of the latest 29 cases, 25 persons came from low risk countries."
As per genome sequencing reports of Dec 30-31, Omicron found in 84 per cent of Covid samples tested: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain. --PTI
Over 100 doctors in three different hospitals of Kolkata have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, a senior health official said on Monday.
At least 70 doctors of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, 24 medical practitioners of Chittaranjan Seva Sadan and Shishu Sadan Hospital in Kalighat, and 12 of the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology have tested positive for the infection, the official told PTI.
“The doctors have been asked to go for institutional quarantine,” he said.
Contact tracing has begun, and the process of clinical examination of everyone in the three hospitals has started, the official said.
West Bengal had on Sunday reported 6,153 COVID-19 cases, with the eastern metropolis accounting for 3,194 infections. The state’s coronavirus tally stood at 16,49,150, of which 17,038 are active cases. --PTI
As teenagers line up at vaccination centres in Pune, the Indian Express take a look at what the kids had to say following their jabs.
Omanshu Singh (16) of Ryan International School, Bhavdhan, said, "I think young people should take vaccination seriously as this will help them in their academics and further studies. Awareness on vaccination was created by my school teacher and I thank them for this."
Shriya Deshmukh (17) of Abhinav College said that her friends and family created awareness about Covid vaccination in their circles. "I think getting vaccinated is very important for youngsters of my age, however, this should have been done little earlier," she added.
Anaya Gore (15) of Abhinav Vidyalaya, said, "I think getting vaccinated at my age is very important as this will help me in my future studies along with my friends. We are excited to get fully vaccinated now."
Vaccination for the 15-18 age group kicked off on Monday as the country continued to fight against surging Covid-19 cases, courtesy the Omicron variant of the virus. According to the Centre, there are around 10 crore children in this age bracket.
The Indian Express take a look at what the kids had to say following their jabs:
“I want to feel safe from Omicron. Apart from that, I also wanted to get it early to show people in my galli (neighbourhood) that it’s safe and nothing bad will happen. There are still quite a few people who think they don’t need vaccines and maybe I can help convince them,” said Harsh, a 16-year old beneficiary in Delhi.
Shravani Shinde, 16, after getting her shot at SP College in Pune, said, “I was tensed before coming to the vaccination centre. However, I could not even realise when they gave me the shot as those administering it were constantly conversing with me.”
Read more
Covid-19 cases continued to rise rapidly in Pune with 850 new infections detected on Sunday as 16,346 samples were tested, a 34.7 per cent increase compared to the previous day, according to the data released by the health department of Pune Zilla Parishad. As many as 314 people recovered from the virus while two died, one each from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pune rural.
Maharashtra reported 50 cases of Omicron variant on Sunday, of which 46 came from Pune district. Read more
Puducherry CM N Rangasamy launched Covid vaccination for children from the Thillaiyadi Valliammai Government High School in Kataragama.
Meanwhile, in Telangana, Health Minister T Harish Rao launched the inoculation drive teenagers at a health centre in the city. He said 1,014 vaccination centres have been started in the state for the 15-18 age group which are an addition to the existing adult vaccination centres. Observing that 18.70 lakh children in the age group of 15-18 are estimated to be eligible for receiving the shots in the state, he appealed to the parents and teachers to take the initiative to get the eligible teenagers vaccinated.
At Pune’s Kamala Nehru Hospital, the flow of youngsters remained unstoppable as the Covid-19 vaccination drive for those aged between 15 and 18 years commenced on Monday.
Over 100 doctors in Patna — 96 of them from Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) — have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last two days. Bihar’s active Covid-19 count has crossed the 1,000-mark, half of which are from Patna alone. Of these, there are, however, no Omicron cases. Read more
With more than 16,000 paramedics on strike demanding pay hike and allowances in Punjab, Covid-19 vaccination drive for the 15-18 age group is likely to go slow in the state.
“The Covid-19 vaccination drive is likely to go slow as a majority of the staff is on strike,” said Dr Rajinder Singla, district immunisation officer, Barnala.
The staff on strike include 9,500 employees under National Health Mission (NHM), 2,500 multipurpose health workers (MPHW), 3,000 staff nurses on regular rolls and 1,200 rural pharmacists. The NHM staff include clerical cadres, auxiliary nursing midwives (ANMs), staff nurses, health workers and so on. Read more
With Covid-19 cases surging, the Chennai corporation has engaged 1,000 volunteers to provide those in home quarantines with food and medicines, will set up telecounselling centres and increase daily testing from 25,000 to 30,000.
“For each ward, there will be five volunteers. So for 200 wards, a total of 1,000 volunteers will be engaged. Apart from providing services at their doorstep, they will also watch for violations of Covid-19 norms,” Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said after taking stock of the Omicron situation on Sunday. The total cases of the latest coronavirus variant reported in the state stands at 121, of which 20 are active, with 98 people having been discharged in the last 24 hours. Read more
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated the Covid-19 vaccination camp for those aged between 15-18 years at a government high school near Saidapet in Chennai today.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai kicked off the Covid-19 vaccination drive for children in the age group of 15-18 years at a BBMP school in Mudalapalya in Bengaluru today.