Coronavirus LIVE: There is no shortage of vaccines, Centre assures states

Coronavirus live updates: Most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (2,161,467), Kerala (1,061,341), Karnataka (951,600), Andhra Pradesh (889,974). Stay tuned for corona-related news

11:36 PM

Over 10,000 senior citizens get jab in Delhi

Over 10,000 senior citizens in Delhi received their first shots of the coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, almost double the number of people above 60 years who got the jab on the inaugural day of the vaccination drive's the second phase, officials said, according to PTI. The Health Department recorded a marginal increase for those under the age bracket of 45-59 as 1,442 people got vaccinated against 1,009 on the previous day.

During the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, which begun across the country from Monday, shots are being administered to the priority group of persons aged 60 years and above and those aged 45-59 with specified co-morbidities. A total of 21,227 beneficiaries, including 10,213 senior citizens and 1,442 people in the age group of 45-59, received the shots on Tuesday, according to the data by the department.
 

Seventy-four per cent or 8,592 people from the two categories chose the private facilities for the first dose, according to the data. In the first phase starting January 16, nearly four lakh beneficiaries comprising healthcare and frontline workers were vaccinated in Delhi. Over 9,000 healthcare and frontline workers were vaccinated on Tuesday, of which 5,946 got their first dose, as per PTI.

11:23 PM

29 additional pvt hospitals in Mumbai to carry out vaccination: BMC

In addition to BMC centres, 29 private hospitals in Mumbai have been given permissions to carry out Covid vaccination. These 29 hospitals fulfil all criteria prescribed by GoI to be designated as Covid Vaccination Centre: BMC

10:42 PM

Covid-19: 10 more deaths, 730 new cases in Punjab

Punjab on Tuesday reported 730 new coronavirus cases, pushing infection count to 1,83,538, according to a medical bulletin, according to PTI. On Monday, the state had recorded 635 new cases. Punjab has been seeing an upswing in the number of fresh Covid-19 cases for the last three weeks. With 10 more fatalities, the toll rose to 5,860 on Tuesday, the bulletin said.

The number of active cases also jumped from 4,853 on Monday to 5,198 on Tuesday, it said. Of the new cases, Ludhiana reported the maximum at 115 followed by SBS Nagar (113), Patiala (91), and Hoshiarpur (67) among others. A total of 374 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from the infection, taking the number of cured people to 1,72,480, as per the bulletin.

10:15 PM

Govt bying vaccines for Rs 210, selling it for Rs 250 to people: Congress

9:32 PM

15.4 mn Covid vaccine doses administered so far: Health ministry

The cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 15.4 million today, says Union Health Ministry

 

9:11 PM

China proposes free travel to US based on recognition of Covid-19 vaccines

In a bid to open up international travel, China has proposed to the US mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccines and permission of free travel between the two countries to only those persons who are vaccinated.

 

Chief Epidemiologist of Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wu Zunyou said China and the US should work jointly to lift mutual travel restrictions in August or September when the US is expected to reach herd immunity, suggesting priority be given to official, business travel and overseas study.

8:39 PM

Gujarat sees 454 new coronavirus cases, 361 recoveries

Gujarat on Tuesday reported 454 fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the count of infections to 2,70,770, the state Health department said. No COVID-19 fatality was reported in the state during the day, the department said in a release.

 

Gujarat has so far reported 4,411 deaths due to COVID-19.

 

With 361 people being discharged on Tuesday, the overall tally of recoveries in Gujarat rose to 2,63,837, it said, adding that the state's recovery rate stood at 97.44 per cent. Gujarat is now left with 2,522 active cases, the department said.

8:03 PM

Kerala govt requests Centre to provide more Covid-19 vaccines

7:55 PM

86 fresh coronavirus cases reported in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday recorded 85 new positive cases, taking the tally to 1,26,589, even as no fresh death due to the virus was reported in the past 24 hours, officials said.

 

Out of the fresh cases, 12 were from Jammu division and 73 from Kashmir division of the Union territory, they said.

 

The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 48 cases followed by 10 in Jammu district. While 11 districts did not report any fresh cases, seven other districts had cases in single digits.

7:45 PM

Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan took his first dose of Covid-19 Vaccine

7:26 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Kerala reports 2,938 new Covid cases, 16 deaths in a day

After recording over 3,000 daily fresh infections over the past few days, Kerala saw a slight dip on Tuesday, reporting 2,938 new COVID-19 cases and 16 more deaths, taking the infection count to 10,64,628 and the toll to 4,226.

 

A total of 3,512 people recuperated from the disease today, taking the total cured in the state to 10,12,484. Currently, there were 47,277people under treatment, and 2,05,315 under observation out of which 7,004 are in isolation wards of various hospitals. State Health minister K K Shailaja said the state tested 68,094 samples in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 4.31 per cent.

7:11 PM

Andhra Pradesh clocks 106 fresh coronavirus cases, nil deaths

Andhra Pradesh logged 106 new COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Tuesday, pushing the infection count to 8,90,080.

 

A government bulletin said 57 patients recovered during the period, taking the cumulative recoveries to 8,82,137. No fresh deaths were reported and the toll remained at 7,169. Over 35,800 tests were conducted.

6:54 PM

Nigeria receives nearly 4 million vaccines from COVAX

Nearly 4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, the third and largest delivery so far to an African country by the global COVAX initiative, which was created to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have fair access to vaccines.

 

The COVAX programme shipped 3.94 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, from Mumbai to Abuja, according to a joint statement from UNICEF, which is working in partnership with the World Health Organization, GAVI, which is an international vaccine alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

6:44 PM

54 school students in Haryana test Covid-19 positive

Fifty four students of a school near here have tested COVID-19 positive leading to suspension of classes and other academic activities, an official said on Tuesday.

 

Karnal Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Yogesh Sharma said three students of Sainik School Kunjpura had tested positive for the virus on Monday following which the health department took samples of 390 students and staff members of the school for testing.

 

"The reports revealed that 54 students are COVID-19 positive," Sharma said.

6:34 PM

Delhi records zero Covid-19 deaths, 217 new cases on Tuesday

Delhi recorded no new COVID-19 fatality on Tuesday, even as 217 new cases pushed the city's infection tally to 6,39,681, and the positivity rate fell from 0.44 per cent to 0.33 per cent, the health department said. The new cases came out of 66,624 tests for COVID-19 conducted on Monday, as per data shared by the department.

 

Seventy-eight more people have recovered from the disease in the national capital, it showed. Delhi had recorded 175 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. The death toll due to the disease in the city stands at 10,911.

6:08 PM

Delhi records 217 new Covid-19 cases; no fresh death reported in past 24 hours

Delhi records 217 new Covid-19 cases; no fresh death reported in past 24 hours

6:07 PM

Odisha reports 74 new coronavirus cases, 1 fresh fatality

Odisha's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 3,37,351 on Tuesday as 74 more people tested positive for the infection, while one fresh fatality pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 1,917, a health official said.

 

Forty-five new cases were reported in quarantine centres, while 29 fresh infections were detected during contact tracing, he said.

 

Sundergarh district reported the highest number of new cases at 13, followed by Sambalpur (12) and Khurda (eight).

5:37 PM

54 students of a school hostel test positive for Covid-19 in Haryana

5:23 PM

Coronavirus pandemic is under control, says Health Ministry

5:11 PM

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh takes first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at RR Hospital

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has taken the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at RR Hospital in the national capital on Tuesday.

 

"The first dosage of COVID-19 vaccine was administered to me at RR Hospital today. India's resolve for making the country COVID free has been strengthened by this inoculation drive. The vaccine is completely safe and hassle free," tweeted the Defence Minister."

 

"I salute the efforts of India's scientists and doctors who developed the vaccine in a short span of time. I also thank the doctors and paramedic staff at the RR Hospital for the vaccination. I urge everyone who is eligible to take the vaccine and make India COVID free," added Singh.

4:57 PM

Public compliance for Covid-19 appropriate behaviour cannot be diluted: Health Ministry

4:47 PM

More than 1.48 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered till 1 pm today: Govt

4:46 PM

Nine States/UTs jave given second dose to more than 75% of eligible HCW: Govt

4:31 PM

Marginal increase in daily new cases in the last two weeks: Health Ministry

4:12 PM

Philippines logs 2,067 new Covid-19 cases, vaccination drive 'very successful'

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,067 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 580,442.

 

The death toll climbed to 12,369 after 47 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. It added 144 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 534,463.

3:43 PM

Ravi Shankar Prasad receives first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at AIIMS Patna

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Patna.

 

"I have got a vaccine for COVID-19 in AIIMS Patna. All of us Union Ministers had decided that we will also pay Rs 250 each out our own volition. I have also given shared an amount of Rs 250 to AIIMS today," the Minister added while speaking to media here.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday kicked off the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country by getting the vaccine shot on Monday.

3:22 PM

Covid-19: WHO chief scientist says India exhibited capacity to innovate, manufacture vaccines

India has shown the capacity to be a global-scale manufacturer and also an innovator when it comes to coronavirus vaccines, World Health Organization's Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said Monday. Speaking at the Global Bio-India 2021, she opined that the fight against the coronavirus pandemic is at a very critical junction now as cases have suddenly gone up, particularly in Europe and America.

 

There are many uncertainties now, especially on the different variants of the virus, she noted.

 

"India has shown the capacity to be a manufacturer at the global scale and also be an innovator when it came to vaccine development. There is a huge amount of scope to study the impact of vaccines, which needs to be thought-through by a very coordinated approach," she said.

2:44 PM

Kerala Health Minister receives first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja on Tuesday received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the government medical college hospital here as the second phase of the vaccination drive progressed in the State.

 

The 64-year-old minister later appealed to everyone to take part in the government programme.

 

Besides Shailaja, her cabinet colleagueE Chandrasekharan also received thejab from the same hospital. Earlier, Minister of Ports and Museums, Kadannappally Ramachandran (76) got the shot from a hospital in his home district, Kannur.

2:17 PM

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad receives the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine

1:56 PM

Those who can afford should get vaccinated in private hospitals: Harsh Vardhan

Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan along with his wife Nutan Goel received their first Covid vaccine doses on Tuesday in the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute. Vardhan and Goel received Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and paid Rs 250 each for the doses.

 

After receiving the vaccine he appealed that those who can afford the cost of vaccination must go to their nearest private facility to get vaccinated. He also spoke of vaccine appropriate behaviour where people must adhere to getting vaccinated and help defeat the pandemic. READ ON...