New Delhi: Expressing hope that there will be an exponential rise in production of vaccines in the subsequent months in the country, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday said India will be in a position to vaccinate at least all of its adult population by the end of the year.
“Between August to December 2021, India will have procured 216 crore vaccine doses, while by July this year, 51 crore doses will be procured,” he said while reviewing public health response to Covid-19 and progress of vaccination with nine states and Union Territories.
Briefing about the Covid situation, Dr Vardhan outlined that at present there are 30,27,925 active cases in the country, adding 3,57,295 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and a recovery rate of 87.25% is being observed.
He expressed satisfaction that daily recoveries have outnumbered the daily new Covid cases for the last eight days consistently.
The Health Minister informed that India has in the last 24 hours conducted the highest ever 20,61,683 tests with the cumulative tests being over 3,30,00,000.
Underscoring the critical importance of vaccination drive, Dr Vardhan highlighted that India has administered a total of 19,18,89,503 vaccine doses to its citizens.
He stated that the government is in the active process of supporting the manufacturer of vaccines for ramping up vaccine availability in the country.
Highlighting the issue of black fungus or mucormycosis, Dr Vardhan informed that all the states/UTs have been asked to notify it as an epidemic and ensure that all the cases of black fungus are duly reported.
He assured that all the necessary information and guidelines regarding diabetes control and restricted use of steroids have been provided to states. He also touched upon the speculation that the virus might mutate in future and endanger children informing that the health facilities are being upgraded to deal with any such exigency.
Dr Vardhan presented a snapshot on the Covid situation in all the states/UTs.
In Chhattisgarh, intense transmission has been observed since March 2021. The state was observing a near positivity rate of 30% at the start of May. In Himachal Pradesh, there are more than 35,000 active cases, while the fatality rate (1.44%) is much higher than national average.
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The Health Minister underlined the issues like complacency, marriages, super spreader events etc. for the steep rise in cases in Himachal Pradesh.
He informed that Goa is witnessing a rising trend with 22,000 active cases. Daman and Diu has 366 active cases and a declining trend is being observed. Similarly Ladakh is also showing a declining trend with 1,500 active cases at present.
He cautioned towards the new emerging trend in the country. He highlighted that now the smaller states are showing an upward trend and there is a dire need to be extremely cautious.
He asked the states to follow the basic principles of Covid appropriate behaviour along with testing, tracking, tracing, treating and now vaccinating to fight against the pandemic.
The Health Minister emphasised the need to step up vaccination and reiterated the need to dedicate 70% of vaccines provided by the Central Government for the second dose. He also requested the states/UTs to be vigilant against vaccination wastage.