India managed Omicron surge much better than other countries: Centre

 

New Delhi [India], March 17 (ANI): The proactive measures in India's COVID-19 vaccination drive helped the country control the spread of Omicron, which was globally six times higher than the previous wave, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

During a webinar, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare spoke about India's achievement in vaccination in comparison to other countries and proactive management by the government.

"Today, India managed omicron surge much better than other countries. Today also, 15-17 lakh cases are being reported globally but India is reporting around 3000 daily cases," he said.

"India has administered more than 180 crore vaccine doses which in comparison to the USA in 3.2 times and 12.5 times France. The fully vaccinated beneficiaries in India are more than 81 crore which is 3.9 times USA and 15.6 times France," Agarwal said.

"96.74 crore adult beneficiaries have received at least the first dose in India which is 2.96 times the population of the USA and 6.71 times the population of Russia. Whereas, 2.5 core vaccine doses are administered in a single day on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday which is equivalent to the population of Australia. A total of 150 crore doses were administered in less than a year amongst highest in the World," he said.

He further said that the global evidence suggested that vaccines were successful in combating the Omicron variant in terms of fewer people getting infected, less severity and lesser deaths.

"It wasn't easy to administer 2.5 crore vaccines in a single day on the PM's birthday and there were no lapses in the system. This shows the power of India and management skills," said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya at the Webinar.

The Union Health Minister also appreciated the efforts of healthcare workers and NGOs in COVID crisis management and administration of vaccines in the country.

He also urged NGOs to continue their efforts in health and wellness centres. "Our health workers were continuously working during the COVID crisis, they didn't stop their work and many of them even lost their lives during the pandemic," he added.