India Coronavirus Dispatch: More Indians now willing to take the vaccine

45+ or not, teachers too want the jab, rabi harvest not impacted by second wave, Covid-19 reinfections explained, and other news relevant to India's war on Covid-19

Over 93,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 93,249 fresh coronavirus infections on Sunday—the highest since mid-September— taking the cumulative caseload to 1,24,85,509, according to a report in the Scroll. The country saw 513 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 1,64,623, according to central health ministry data. The active caseload is at 6,91,597, while the total recoveries have surged to 1,16,29,289. As many as 74.4 million shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Read more here

45+ or not, teachers want to be included in vaccine drive

Calls to open up the vaccination programme to teachers of all ages are getting louder, a report in ThePrint said. In the new phase of the rollout that started on Thursday, all people above the age of 45 are eligible, but this leaves out a large chunk of school teachers, many of whom are in the 25-40 age group. This has prompted private schools, state teachers associations and other bodies to ask the government to prioritise shots for teachers. A health ministry official told ThePrint that the government is “considering all proposals” for expanding the scope of vaccination. “We have received requests for inclusion in the ongoing vaccination drive from several quarters of educational institutes including schools. Apart from schools, other sectors have also requested inclusion in the beneficiary pool such as pharma companies’ employees,” the official said. Read more here

More Indians now willing to take the vaccine: Survey

A new survey has indicated that the percentage of the Indian population willing to take the Covid-19 vaccination has surged to 77 per cent from 38 per cent since the rollout began in January, according to ThePrint. The survey was conducted last week by LocalCircles, a community social media platform. As many as 27,000 respondents from 299 districts took part in the survey, out of which 67 per cent were men and 33 per cent were women. Read more here

Explained: Covid-19 reinfections

Reinfection with the novel coronavirus is the subject of an ongoing scientific discussion. As of now, there is no clarity on if an individual develops permanent immunity after contracting and recovering from the virus for the first time, an explainer in The Indian Express said. Few cases of reinfection have been found around the world. There have been several cases of people testing positive for Covid-19 multiple times, even in India. But not all such cases are considered reinfections. Recovered patients can at times continue to carry low levels of virus for up to three months. The levels would not be enough to make the person sick, but they can get detected in Covid tests. Read more here

Harvest operations for Rabi crops not hurt by second wave

The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has not hampered the ongoing harvest work in the country with farmers already harvesting over 55% of their crops as of Friday. This shows the resilience of the farm sector in the face of the pandemic, the report said. Read more here