In a landmark achievement, India’s cumulative Covid vaccination coverage surpassed 41 crore on Monday, as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have administered more than one crore cumulative doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the age group 18-44 years. The landmark feat arrived even as AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria said that the country should consider reopening schools in a “staggered way”.
As per the data shared by the Union Health Ministry, vaccination coverage has surpassed 41,13,55,665 as per the 7 pm provisional report on Monday and more than 47.77 lakh (47,77,697) vaccine doses were administered yesterday. Following MP, Maharashtra and UP, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have vaccinated more than 10 lakh beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years for the first dose of Covid vaccines, the data from health ministry read.
On the other hand, India reported 38,164 daily new cases in the last 24 hours, while 499 succumbed to the virus. The Health Ministry said country has been reporting less than 50,000 daily new cases since 22 continuous days. India’s active caseload today stands at 4,21,665 and active cases now constitute 1.35% of the country’s total positive cases, the data stated. The weekly positivity rate is currently at 2.08% while the daily positivity rate stands at 2.61% today. The daily positivity rate has remained less than 3% for 28 consecutive days, and has remained below 5% for 42 consecutive days now, as per the Health Ministry statement added.
Meanwhile, speaking to India Today, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said the country should consider reopening schools in a “staggered way”. Most schools in India have been shut since the first nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 was imposed in March of last year. Classes are being conducted virtually ever since. While the central government did allow a phased reopening of schools last October, the decision was withdrawn soon after. Dr Guleria said, “I am a proponent of opening up schools in a staggered way, for districts that are seeing less virus circulation.” “It [reopening of schools] can be planned for places having positivity rates below 5 per cent,” Dr Guleria said. The renowned pulmonologist and member of India’s Task Force on Covid-19 also said that schools can be immediately shut if surveillance hints at the spread of infection. But districts should explore the option of bringing children to schools on alternate days and plan other ways of staggered reopening, he added.
Quelling myths surrounding the efficicaies of Covid vaccines available in India, Dr N.K. Arora, chief of the country’s vaccination program, has said that current vaccines are effective against Delta variant as per the studies undertaken by ICMR on the issue. “Yes, the current vaccines are effective against Delta Variant as per the studies undertaken by ICMR on the issue.” The , Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) co-chair also touched upon the rising number of cases where he emphasised that country is witnessing spurge in Covid cases in north-eastern part and southern states, which could be attributed to Delta variant. “Though there is a significant dip in the number of cases in most parts of the country, some regions are witnessing a high-Test Positivity Rate (TPR) particularly in the north-eastern parts of the country and several districts in the southern states, most of these cases could be due to the Delta variant,” he said.
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