As Covid cases dip, govt says India will vaccinate all by December

India records 186,364 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, which is the lowest in the last 44 days; MHA orders Covid-19 containment measures to be continued till 30 June.

On the day India registered 186,364 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, which is the lowest in the last 44 days, Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar said that the country will vaccinate all its people against coronavirus by December 2021 and slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for allegedly doing politics over vaccines.

Javadekar’s remarks came after Rahul Gandhi pointed out that only three per cent of the country’s population have been vaccinated since the vaccination drive began on 16 January.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Javadekar said: “The Union Health Ministry last week explained the framework of the administration of 216 crore Covid vaccine doses by December 2021. It means 108 crore people will be vaccinated. It clearly mentioned the vaccines like Covaxin, Covishied, Zydus Cadila, Sputnik V and others for the purpose. So people should understand the immunisation against Covid in India will be completed before December 2021.”

The I&B Minister also accused Rahul Gandhi of spreading fear and said that India is the second fastest and most vaccinated country today. “Rahul Gandhi ji if you understand the importance of vaccines, then why did you put a question mark on it when the Covaxin was introduced. Do not create confusion in the minds of people. Your gimmick did not stop even when the Prime Minister took the vaccine himself. By December, 216 crore new vaccine doses will arrive in India. Which will be administered to more than 108 crore people. Do not spread fear. India is the second fastest and most vaccinated country today,” Javadekar said.

“When the nation is fighting the Covid, at such a time, Rahul Gandhi uses the word ‘nautanki’ for the efforts made by the government. It is an insult to the country and its people. We will not use such words because the public has stopped their ‘nautanki’ already,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the former Congress chief launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Central government’s vaccine strategy. “I am saying that the second wave is Prime Ministers’ responsibility. The nautanki (gimmick) Prime Minister did, and not fulfilled his responsibility is the reason behind the second wave. If the vaccination keeps on going like this then the vaccination of the whole country will be complete by May 2024,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed the states and Union Territories to ensure compliance to containment measures for Covid-19 till 30 June. The ministry issued an order on Thursday to the Secretaries of Ministries and Departments of Government of India and the Chief Secretaries and Administrators of all state and Union Territories and asked them to ensure compliance of the containment measures for Covid-I9, as conveyed by the Health Ministry on 25 April.

“In exercise of the powers, conferred under Section 10(2)(I) of the Disaster Management Act 2005, the undersigned hereby directs that Ministry of Home Affairs’ Order of even number dated April 29, to ensure compliance to the containment measures for COVID-I9, as conveyed vide Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) DO No. Z.28015/85/2021-DM Cell dated April 25, will remain in force up to June 30,” the order said.

According to the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry on 25 April, states and UTs were asked to take prompt and targeted action on specific districts/cities/areas in order to flatten the curve of the pandemic where a test positivity rate of 10 per cent or more was reported over the past week or where over 60 per cent of the ICU beds are occupied.

On Friday, India’s daily Covid cases saw a dip. The single-day rise in cases fell below the 2-lakh mark for the second time this month, while the recoveries continue to outnumber daily cases for the 15th consecutive day.

The Health Ministry on Friday said that as many as 186,364 fresh Covid-19 cases have been reported in India in the last 24 hours—the lowest daily new cases reported in the last 44 days. The daily positivity rate has also gone down to 9 per cent, the ministry said. The active caseload in the country has reduced to 23,43,152, with a net decline of 76,755 cases in the last 24 hours.

Recoveries continue to outnumber the daily new cases for the 15th consecutive day, as India witnessed 259,459 fresh recoveries in the last 24 hours, the ministry said. The recovery tally of India has reached to 2,48,93,410 and the recovery rate stands at 90.34 per cent.

India recorded 3,660 Covid-related deaths in the last 24 hours. The death toll has now mounted to 318,895.