E-Paper
Why those above 45 will be inoculated from April 1? Health ministry answers
Addressing a press briefing, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan elaborated on this point by saying, “The case fatality rate for the age group of 45 and above is 2.85 per cent across India. Therefore, this is the most vulnerable population group and needs to be protected first.”
As the Centre announced on Tuesday that citizens above the age of 45-- with or without comorbidities-- will be allowed to get vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) from April 1, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday that this decision was taken as 88 per cent of the total fatalities in the country due to the disease were taking place in the age group of 45 years.
Addressing a press briefing, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan elaborated on this point by saying, “The case fatality rate for the age group of 45 and above is 2.85 per cent across India. Therefore, this is the most vulnerable population group and needs to be protected first.”
Speaking on the coverage of the overall vaccination drive, Bhushan said more than 5.08 crore doses of the vaccine have been administered to beneficiaries till now. Out of this number, 2,64,52,366 doses were given to those above the age of 60 and between 45-59 with specific co-morbidities, while the health workers and the frontline workers have received the remaining doses. “Telangana, Chandigarh and Nagaland have reported low vaccination coverage of healthcare and frontline workers,” he said.
Also Read| Covid-19 rise in Maharashtra, Punjab is of grave concern: Centre
With regard to the Centre asking states and Union Territories to increase the interval between two doses of Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccine to 4-8 weeks instead of 4-6 weeks, the health secretary pointed out the revised time interval is only applicable to Covishield and not to Covaxin- which is being produced by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Both Covishield and Covaxin were given approval for use by the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) on January 3.
India on Wednesday registered 47,262 new Covid-19 disease cases and 275 related deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the caseload and death toll to 1,17,34,058 and 1,60,441 respectively, according to the health ministry’s dashboard. The total recoveries are more than 1.12 crores while active cases have climbed to 368,457.
Wednesday’s toll in the country has been the highest since the beginning of this year. The ministry added that six states- Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu contributed 83.27 per cent towards the new deaths.
