Delhi: As the country is bracing up for the mass immunization programme, the curve of the Covid-19 is flattening. In the last 24-hours, the country recorded 18,732 new cases, the lowest figure since July 1. With the cases recorded on Sunday, the total number of cases recorded in India stands at 1,01,87,850.
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According to the Union Health Ministry data, the country on Sunday observed 279 deaths due to the virus. However, in what seems to be a respite in fatalities, the figures have been below 300 for two consecutive days.
Pushing the recoveries to 97,61,538, in the last 24-hours 21,430 people recovered from the virus. The data showed that the Covid-19 fatality rate in the country was registered at 1.44 per cent.
As per the data, there are 2,78,690 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 2.73 per cent of the total caseload.
Vaccine Update In India
As the Union Government is planning such a large-scale inoculation progarmme, there are eight Covid-19 vaccine candidates, including three indigenous vaccines, under different stages of clinical trials which could be ready for authorization in near future and a vaccine is likely to be available by January 2021.
It includes AstraZeneca and Oxford university developed and Serum Institute of India manufactured Covishield, Covaxin by Bharat Biotech Limited, ZyCoV-D by Zydus Cadila, and Russian vaccine candidate Sputnik-V.
The list also mentions NVX-CoV2373 by SII, HGCO19 by Geneva, and two unlabeled vaccines-Recombinant Protein Antigen based vaccine by Biological E Limited-and Inactivated rabies vector platform by Bharat Biotech.
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Who Will Get The Vaccine?
Amid such preparation for the massive inoculation drive, the biggest question that arises is who will get the vaccine first?
The National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of Covid-19 (NEGVAC) has recommended three prioritized population groups including Healthcare Workers (HCWs) (about 1 crore), Frontline Workers (about 2 crores), and Prioritized Age Group (about 27 crores).