Coronavirus LIVE: Doctors, nurses should accept vaccine, says Niti Aayog

Coronavirus live updates: India has so far vaccinated 450,000 people. Globally, nearly 96 million people have been infected, of which, 10,572,672 are in India

10:38 PM

Deplorable to overreact, entice fear without due diligence on vax: Vardhan

It is highly deplorable to overreact, entice fear and spread misinformation without doing any due diligence on Covid-19 vaccine, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Tuesday after Bharat Biotech released a factsheet specifying conditions when Covaxin should not be given. He was replying to a tweet that asked why such a crucial information was allegedly not made public earlier.

The health minister also referred to an earlier tweet by him on January 15, wherein he had posted a chart with details of all those people who should not get the vaccine. "Highly deplorable to over-react, entice fear and spread misinformation without performing an iota of due diligence. These facts have been in public domain since the beginning. Follow @MoHFW_INDIA (health ministry Twitter handel) to stay informed and do some research before speaking out," Vardhan tweeted.

10:38 PM

Jharkhand reports 101 new Covid-19 cases, 141 recoveries and 3 deaths

9:46 PM

631,417 health workers vaccinated so far: Health ministry

The cumulative number of healthcare workers vaccinated against Covid-19 has touched 631,417 (till 6 pm today) through 11,660 sessions, as per the provisional report. 3,800 sessions were held till 6 pm today: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

9:44 PM

West Bengal reports 412 new Covid-19 cases, 513 discharges

8:25 PM

Nasal vaccine candidate against Covid-19 could be a game-changer: Dr VK Paul

The Central government on Tuesday said that a nasal vaccine candidate against COVID-19 has been identified that could be a game-changer.

 

"A nasal vaccine candidate has been identified. It has come for consideration for phase 1 and phase 2 trials. If it works then it could be a game-changer," said Dr VK Paul, Member, NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog. He also called upon people to end vaccine hesitancy as India was in a comfortable situation, assuring that both the vaccines against COVID-19 were safe.

 

"We would like to reassure everyone with the data we have seen that the two COVID19 vaccines are safe. The vaccine hesitancy should end. How will we defeat the pandemic then?" Paul added.

 

Paul further requested the doctors and nurses to accept the vaccine. He said, "We are not fulfilling our societal responsibility if a vaccine assigned to you is not being taken. The whole world is clamouring for the vaccine. I request the doctors and nurses to accept the vaccine."

8:02 PM

Over 450,000 people vaccinated in country till now, says Health Ministry

As many as 4,54,049 people have been vaccinated till early Tuesday morning as India's active COVID-19 cases came down to 2 lakhs amid the ongoing vaccination drive in the country.

 

At the Health Ministry's press briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "4,54,049 people have been vaccinated till now. The active cases are around 2 lakhs after seven months and the number is declining. The daily number of deaths is less than 140 after eight months."

 

Bhushan informed that the COVID-19 cases per million in the country is 7,668 while the active cases are less than two per cent of the total number of cases. The death per million is 110 while the test per million has reached 136,089. He further stated that the overall case fatality rate is 1.44 per cent. READ ON...

7:41 PM

Maha reports 2,294 coronavirus cases, 4,516 recoveries; 50 die

Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally rose to 19,94,977 with the addition of 2,294 fresh cases on Tuesday. With 50 new deaths, the state's fatality count rose to 50,523.

 

Of the 50 deaths, 35 took place in the past 48 hours, while five occurred last week. The remaining 10 deaths occurred in the period before last week, but were added to the toll now. A total of 4,516 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, which took the number of recovered persons to 18,94,839. There are 48,406 active cases in the state at present.

7:13 PM

India will supply Covid-19 vaccines to partner countries over coming weeks: MEA

6:52 PM

Jammu and Kashmir records 113 new Covid-19 cases, 1 death

Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday recorded 113 new coronavirus cases that raised its tally to 1,23,538, while one more fatality pushed the death count to 1,923, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 53 were recorded from the Jammu division and 60 from the Kashmir division of the union territory, they said.

 

The officials said Jammu district recorded the highest of 40 cases, followed by 37 in Srinagar district.

 

While six districts -- Anantnag, Ganderbal, Doda, Rajouri, Reasi and Udhampur -- did not report any new case, 12 other districts had fresh cases in single digits, they said. The number of active cases dropped to 1,103 in the union territory, while 1,20,512 patients have recovered so far, the officials said. The UT reported only one COVID-19 related death in the past 24 hours from the Kashmir division, taking the death toll to 1,923, they said.

6:21 PM

Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Punjab need to increase their vaccination coverage: Health Ministry

5:40 PM

Uttar Pradesh records four coronavirus-linked fatalities

Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday recorded four coronavirus-linked fatalities, which brought the death toll to 8,584, while 376 fresh infections pushed the caseload to 5,97,238, officials said. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 8,631, they said.

 

"In the past 24 hours, four deaths and 376 fresh cases were reported in the state and 789 people were discharged," Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters here.

 

"There are 8,172 active cases in the state and the total number of recoveries has risen to 5,80,482. Of the active cases, 2,796 are in home isolation, 757 are undergoing treatment in private hospitals and the rest are in government hospitals," he added.

5:35 PM

A nasal vaccine could be a game-changer: Dr VK Paul, Niti Aayog

5:18 PM

Only Kerala and Maharashtra have more than 50,000 active cases: Health Ministry

5:04 PM

Only 0.18% adverse affects reported post-vaccination: Health Ministry

We have just started COVID-19 vaccination process and it will pick up speed, said the Health Ministry. Of total vaccinated against COVID-19, 0.18 pc were adverse events, while 0.002 pc had to be hospitalised which is fairly low. Better performing states in COVID-19 vaccination coverage include Odisha (82.6 pc), UP (71.4 pc), Rajasthan (71.3 pc). Tamil Nadu (34.9 pc), Puducherry (34.6 pc), Punjab (27.9 pc) have less than 40 pc vaccination coverage, need to improve.

5:02 PM

India vaccinated highest number of people in the world on the first day of vaccination

4:41 PM

454,049 people have been vaccinated in India against Covid-19 so far: Health Ministry

4:31 PM

LIVE: Health Ministry briefing on coronavirus situation in India

4:12 PM

Centre issues Letter of Comfort to Bharat Biotech for 45 lakh doses of Covaxin

Bharat Biotech has secured a fresh Letter of Comfort from the Centre for another 45 lakh doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, sources said on Tuesday. Out of those 45 lakh doses, the city-based vaccine maker will be supplying over eight lakh doses of Covaxin to some of the friendly countries such as Mauritius, Philippines and Myanmar, free of cost as good will gesture.

 

They also said the company will be dispatching 20 lakh doses of the earlier order in a couple of days, from here.

 

"The company was given a fresh letter of comfort recently for supplying another 45 lakh doses of Covaxin. The doses will be dispatched as when the Ministry places orders with the company," sources told PTI.

3:56 PM

Number of people vaccinated against Covid-19 more than double number of active cases: Govt

A total of4,54,049 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country whichis more than double the number of coronavirus active cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. In a span of 24 hours, 2,23,669 people were vaccinated for COVID-19 across 3,930 sessions taking the cumulative total of people vaccinated to 4,54,049 (across 7,860 sessions conducted so far) in the country, the ministry said.

 

India's total COVID-19 active caseload has dropped to2 lakh (2,00,528)as on date whichconsists of just1.90 per centof the total cases, while thedaily new cases have touched a new low on Tuesday with10,064daily new infections being added to the national tally after seven months.The daily new cases were 10,956 on June 12, 2020, the ministry said.

 

"The fall in the number of daily new cases is accompanied by a fast rising number of people getting vaccinated against COVID-19 across all states and UTs," it said. "The total number of people vaccinated is more than double the number of active cases," the ministry highlighted.

3:09 PM

Coronavirus cases shoot up in Lakshadweep islands

The number of COVID-19 cases soared to 14 in Lakshadweep islands, which remained insulated from the attack of deadly virus till Monday, since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country nearly a year ago. A day after the first coronavirus case was reported in the islands, official sources said 13 people, who were his primary contacts, tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, taking the test positivity rate to 42.4 per cent.

 

The man belonging to the India Reserve Battalion (IRB), had left for Kavaratti by ship from Kochi on 3 January and tested positive on Monday, official sources said.

 

He had reached the islands on January 4. Sources said his 31 primary contacts were traced and tested of which 13 were infected. All of the positive people belonged to IRB, they said. While four of them are having symptoms, the remaining are asymptomatic.

2:56 PM

India's Covid-19 recovery rate improves to 96.66%: Health Ministry

2:34 PM

Delhi govt reduces ICU beds reservation to 25 pc for Covid-19 patients in pvt hospitals

The Delhi High Court was informed on Tuesday that the Delhi government has reduced the reservation of COVID-19 ICU beds in private hospitals here to 25 per cent, from 40 per cent earlier. Justice Navin Chawla listed the matter for further hearing on February 2, after the counsel for petitioner Association of Healthcare Providers said he is waiting for instructions from member hospitals on this development and sought some time.

 

The organisation has sought quashing of the government's September 12, 2020 order to reserve 80 per cent ICU beds for COVID-19 patients in 33 private hospitals which are its members.

 

The reservation percentage has been gradually reduced by the government after reviewing the pandemic situation. With the COVID-19 infection number reaching at its peak of over 8,000 in a day in November, 2020 in Delhi, the numbers are now declining and 161 fresh cases were recorded on January 18, 2021.

2:01 PM

India’s weekly Covid-19 positivity rate is 1.97%: Health Ministry

1:44 PM

30 boxes of Covishield shipped by Serum Institute to Hyderabad

Facilitating COVID-19 inoculation drive in the country, 30 boxes of Covishield vaccine made by Serum Institute of India were shipped from Pune in Maharashtra to Hyderabad in Telangana on Tuesday, as per the official notice by the institute. On January 16, Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender took the first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine.

 

A total of 140 centres have been shortlisted for the distribution of the vaccine.

 

Earlier that day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the world's largest vaccination drive against the pandemic. The Centre stated that the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.

1:11 PM

Chinese mainland reports 118 new cases

The Chinese mainland has registered 118 new coronavirus cases, of which 106 were locally transmitted and 12 arrived from outside the National Health Commission said on Tuesday.

 

Of the locally transmitted cases, 43 were reported in Jilin, 35 in Hebei, 27 in Heilongjiang, and one in Beijing, the Commission said in its daily report.

 

No suspected cases or deaths related to the disease were reported on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

12:45 PM

800,000 Covaxin does to be supplied to countries such as Mauritius, Philippines and Myanmar

Out of 4.5 million Covaxin doses, over 800,000 are intended to be supplied to countries such as Mauritius, Philippines and Myanmar, as a goodwill gesture, reports PTI.

12:23 PM

Coronavirus in India: Latest update by MoHFW

12:09 PM

A new COVID-19 challenge: Mutations rise along with cases

The race against the virus that causes COVID-19 has taken a new turn: Mutations are rapidly popping up, and the longer it takes to vaccinate people, the more likely it is that a variant that can elude current tests, treatments and vaccines could emerge.

 

The coronavirus is becoming more genetically diverse, and health officials say the high rate of new cases is the main reason. Each new infection gives the virus a chance to mutate as it makes copies of itself, threatening to undo the progress made so far to control the pandemic.

11:46 AM

Bharat Biotech advises pregnant or breastfeeding women to avoid Covid vaccine

Bharat Biotech's fact sheet on Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, has advised pregnant or breastfeeding women, besides people with high fever or bleeding disorders, not to take the antidote.

 

The vaccine maker in the fact sheet on Covaxin, posted in its website, said the clinical efficacy of the vaccine is yet to be established and is being studied in Phase 3 clinical trial and hence it is important to appreciate that receiving the vaccine does not mean other precautions related to COVID- 19 need not be followed.

 

"You should not get Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin if you have any history of allergies. Have high fever. Have bleeding disorder or are a blood thinner.

 

Immune compromised or are a medicine that affects your immune system. Are pregnant. Are breast feeding.

11:30 AM

Cambodia PM seeks India's assistance for Covid-19 vaccine

Prime Minister Hun Sen is seeking assistance from India for the provision of Covid-19 vaccines: Cambodian media