Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said that India will by December end, be in a position to vaccinate at least all of its adult population.

Addressing a virtual meeting to review the public health response to Covid-19 and progress of vaccination with health ministers of 9 States/UTs, Vardhan said that he was hopeful of an exponential rise in the production of vaccines in the coming months.

Health Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry and Administrator of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Ladakh, and Lakshadweep participated in the interaction.

Vardhan said India would procure 51 crore doses by July this year, while 216 crore vaccine shots will be procured in August-December.

“Between August to December 2021, India will have procured 216 crore vaccine doses, while by July this year, 51 crore doses will be procured,” the Health Minister said while adding that by the end of the year, the country will be in a position to vaccinate at least all of its adult population.

On black fungus

On the emergence of black fungus called Mucormycosis, Vardhan asked all the States/UTs to notify it as an epidemic and ensure that all the cases of black fungus are duly reported. He also touched upon the speculation that the virus might mutate in future and endanger children and informed that the health facilities are being upgraded to deal with any such exigency.

Vardhan also cautioned against an upward trend in small towns and asked the states to follow the basic principles of COVID Appropriate Behaviour along with testing, tracking, tracing, treating etc. He emphasised the need to step up vaccination.

Recoveries outnumber new cases

Vardhan noted that the daily recoveries had outnumbered the new Covid cases for the last eight days consistently. “ India is observing less than 3 lakh cases from the last 5 days. He informed that in the last 24 hours, India has conducted the highest ever 20,61,683 tests with the cumulative tests being over 3,30,00,000,” Vardhan said while briefing about the Covid situation.

Meanwhile, he also said that in Chhattisgarh, intense transmission has been observed since March 2021and the State was observing a near positivity rate of 30% at the start of May. In Himachal Pradesh, there are more than 35,000 active cases, while the fatality rate (1.44%) is much higher than the national average.

Vardhan underscored the issues like complacency, marriages as super spreader events etc., for the steep rise in cases in Himachal Pradesh. He informed that Goa is witnessing a rising trend with 22,000 active cases. Daman and Diu has 366 active cases and a declining trend is being observed. Similarly, Ladakh is also showing a declining trend with 1,500 active cases at present, he added.

Related Topics