As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them COVID Vaccines free of cost. In addition, the Govt. of India has also been facilitating direct procurement of vaccines by the States/UTs. Vaccination is an integral pillar of the comprehensive strategy of Government of India for containment and management of the pandemic, along with Test, Track, Treat and COVID Appropriate Behaviour.
Implementation of the Liberalized and Accelerated Phase-3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccination has started from 1st May 2021.
Under the Strategy, in every month 50% of the total Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) cleared vaccine doses of any manufacturer would be procured by Govt. of India. It would continue to make these doses available to the State Govts totally free of cost as was being done earlier.
Government of India has so far provided, both through the free of cost category and through direct state procurement category, more than 21.80 crore vaccine doses (21,80,51,890) to States/UTs.
Of this, the total consumption, calculated based on average up to 22ndMay, 2021, including wastages is 19,90,31,577doses (as per data available at 8 AM today).
More than 1.90 crore COVID Vaccine doses (1,90,20,313) are still available with the States/UTs to be administered.
Furthermore, 40,650 vaccine doses are in the pipeline and will be received by the States/UTs within the next 3 days.
With more than 21.23 Lakh tests conducted in the last 24 hours, India has again set a new record of highest tests conducted in a single day. This is also the fifth successive day of more than 20 lakh tests in India. India has significantly ramped up its testing capacity to about 25 lakh tests per day, since Jan 2020.
On a declining trajectory, the Daily Positivity Rate has declined to 11.34%.
The Daily Positivity Rate (7 day moving average) is depicted below. Observed to be lowest since 10th May.
In another positive development, India has recorded less than 3 lakh Daily New Cases for seven consecutive days now.
2,40,842 Daily New Cases were registered in the last 24 hours. This is the lowest figure since 17th April 2021, when the daily new cases were 2.34 lakh.
India’s Daily Recoveries continue to outnumber the Daily New Cases for the ninth consecutive day. 3,55,102 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours.
India’s cumulative recoveries have reached 2,34,25,467 today. The National Recovery Rate has grown further to touch 88.30%.
On the other hand, India’s total Active Caseload has decreased to 28,05,399 today.
A net decline of 1,18,001 is witnessed in the last 24 hours. It now comprises 10.57% of the country's total Positive Cases.
7 States cumulatively account for 66.88% of India’s total Active Cases.In another positive development, India has recorded less than 3 lakh Daily New Cases for seven consecutive days now.
2,40,842 Daily New Cases were registered in the last 24 hours. This is the lowest figure since 17th April 2021, when the daily new cases were 2.34 lakh.
India’s Daily Recoveries continue to outnumber the Daily New Cases for the ninth consecutive day. 3,55,102 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours.
India’s cumulative recoveries have reached 2,34,25,467 today. The National Recovery Rate has grown further to touch 88.30%.
On the other hand, India’s total Active Caseload has decreased to 28,05,399 today.
A net decline of 1,18,001 is witnessed in the last 24 hours. It now comprises 10.57% of the country's total Positive Cases.
7 States cumulatively account for 66.88% of India’s total Active Cases.
The National Mortality Rate currently stands at 1.13%.
3,741 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.
Ten States account for 73.88% of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (682). Karnataka follows with 451 daily deaths.
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country exceeded 19.50 Cr today under the Phase-3 of the nationwide Vaccination Drive.
A total of 19,50,04,184 vaccine doses have been administered through 28,00,808sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. These include 97,52,900 HCWs who have taken the 1st dose and 67,00,614 HCWs who have taken the 2nddose, 1,49,52,345 FLWs (1stdose), 83,26,534 FLWs (2nddose), 99,93,908 beneficiaries under 18-44 age group (1stdose), 6,06,90,560 (1stdose) and 97,87,289 (2nd dose) beneficiaries aged 45 to 60 years. 5,65,55,558 1stdose beneficiaries and 1,82,44,476 2nd dose beneficiaries of more than 60 years old.
Ten states account for 66.27% of the total doses given so far in the country.
As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them COVID Vaccines free of cost. In addition, the Govt. of India has also been facilitating direct procurement of vaccines by the States/UTs. Vaccination is an integral pillar of the comprehensive strategy of Government of India for containment and management of the pandemic, along with Test, Track, Treat and COVID Appropriate Behaviour.
Implementation of the Liberalized and Accelerated Phase-3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccination has started from 1st May 2021.
Under the Strategy, in every month 50% of the total Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) cleared vaccine doses of any manufacturer would be procured by Govt. of India. It would continue to make these doses available to the State Govts totally free of cost as was being done earlier.
Government of India has so far provided, both through the free of cost category and through direct state procurement category, more than 23crore vaccine doses (23,11,68,480) to States/UTs.
Of this, the total consumption, including wastages is 21,22,38,652 doses (as per data available at 8 AM today).
More than 1.75 crore COVID Vaccine doses (1,75,48,648) are still available with the States/UTs to be administered.
Furthermore, more than 2.73 lakh (2,73,970) vaccine doses are in the pipeline and will be received by the States/UTs within the next 3 days.
The Union Health Ministry has flagged concerns regarding the considerably slow pace of COVID-19 vaccination across states and UTs and has urged them to significantly expedite the pace towards full vaccination coverage by saturating all eligible beneficiaries. This was communicated to all states and UTs by Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, as he reviewed the status of COVID vaccination with health secretaries and NHM MDs of states and UTs through a video conference (VC) today.
Highlighting the urgent need for an intensive ‘Mission Mode’ push to COVID-19 vaccination across the country to accelerate the recent placid momentum, the Union Health Secretary has advised them to plan for a two-month-long “Har Ghar Dastak” campaign 2.0 during June-July, with detailed district, block, and village-level plans. The objective of the ‘Har Ghar Dastak 2.0’ Abhiyan is to vaccinate and saturate the eligible population groups for first, second, and precaution doses through door-to-door campaigns, with focused campaigns for old age homes, schools/colleges including the out-of-school children (for focused coverage of children aged 12-18 years population), prisons, brick kilns, etc. The sub-optimal coverage of persons aged ≥ 60 years with precaution doses, which renders them vulnerable, along with the considerably slower speed of coverage in the 12-14-year-old cohort, was pointed out. States/UTs were urged to undertake effective monitoring with micro-plans based on due lists of all eligible beneficiaries. They were also urged to review the administration of precaution doses to the 18-59-year-old age group with the private hospitals on a regular basis.
The Union Health Secretary stressed a clear and effective communication strategy for increasing the pace of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination, noting that customized regional communication best practices have yielded appreciable results in India’s highly commendable COVID-19 coverage of over 191 cr doses. Focus on regional influencers, community leaders, innovative campaigns, etc., was highlighted.
With data on state-wise availability of vaccines vs. due beneficiaries, states/UTs were informed about the stock of near-expiry vaccine doses lying unused with them. Underscoring that the COVID-19 vaccine is a precious national resource, they were strongly advised to ensure that there is no wastage of COVID-19 vaccines at any cost. This must be ensured through active monitoring and on the basis of the “First Expiry First Out” principle, where doses that expire earlier should be used for vaccination first. Pointing out that a supply of vaccine doses has been made to states/UTs as per their demand since Dec 2021, they were advised to first use the unused balance doses over the coming months of May, June, and July.
It was pointed out that in some states, persons who wish to travel abroad and seek to take a precaution dose within 90 days of the second dose are being asked to furnish proof of the intended foreign journey. The Union Health Secretary reiterated that under no circumstances should any COVID-19 vaccination center or any state government insist on any documentary proof of foreign travel for those who are seeking a precaution dose ahead of their travel abroad. Communication in this regard has already been shared with states/UTs.
The COVID Working Group chaired by Dr N K Arora has recommended extension of the gap between the first and second doses of COVISHIELD vaccine to 12-16 weeks. The present gap between the two doses of COVISHIELD vaccine is 6-8 weeks.
Based on the available real-life evidences, particularly from UK, the COVID-19 Working Group agreed for increasing the dosing interval to 12-16 weeks between two doses of COVISHIELD vaccine. No change in interval of COVAXIN vaccine doses was recommended.
The COVID Working Group comprises of the following members:
Dr N K Arora- Director, INCLEN Trust
Dr Rakesh Agarwal, Director and dean, JIPMER, Puducherry
Dr Gagandeep Kang, professor, Christian Medical College, Vellore
Dr J P Mulliyal, Retd professor, Christian Medical College, Vellore
Dr Naveen Khanna, Group Leader, International Centre For Genetic Engineering And Biotechnology (ICGEB), JNU, New Delhi
Dr Amulya Panda, Director, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi
Dr V G Somani, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), Govt of India
The recommendation of the COVID Working Group was accepted by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), headed by Dr V K Paul, Member (Health) Niti Aayog in its meeting on 12th May 2021.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also accepted this recommendation of the COVID Working Group for extension of the gap between the first and second doses of COVISHIELD vaccine to 12 -16 weeks.
A sudden increase in demand has been observed in some states for Amphotericin B which is being actively prescribed by the physicians to patients suffering from Mucormycosis, a post COVID complication. The Government of India is therefore engaging with the manufacturers to ramp up production of the drug. The supply position is expected to improve with extra imports of this drug and increase in its production domestically.
After reviewing the stock position with the manufacturers/importers, and the demand pattern of Amphotericin B the Department of Pharma, has on 11th May, 2021 , allocated this drug amongst the States/UTs based on expected supply that will be available from May 10 to May 31, 2021. States have been requested to put in place a mechanism for equitable distribution of supplies amongst Government and Private hospitals and health care agencies. States have also been requested to publicise in the State the ‘Point of Contact’ for Private and Government hospitals to obtain the drug from this allocation. Further, States have been requested that judicious use may be made of the stock that has been already supplied as well as stock that has been allocated. The arrangements for supply will be monitored by National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA).
The country is going through a severe wave of pandemic and it has affected various parts of the country. The Government of India is continuously working to augment the supply of essential covid medicines and making them available to the State Governments and UTs through an equitable and transparent manner.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare today interacted with State Health Ministers and Principal Secretaries/ Additional Chief Secretaries of 8 states in the presence of Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. These states/UT are depicting a high growth rate in the number of daily cases, higher mortality, very high and growing positivity rate.
These included the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the States of Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Telangana. Shri Tirath Singh Rawat, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand, Shri Anil Vij, Health Minister (Haryana), Shri Balbir Singh Sidhu, Health Minister (Punjab), Shri Naba Kishore Das, Health Minister (Odisha), Shri Banna Gupta, Health Minister (Jharkhand), Shri Mangal Pandey, Health Minister (Bihar) were present virtually.
The Union Health Minister highlighted the trajectory of COVID in these states/UT and brought attention to the consequent stress on the medical infrastructure. He applauded the dedication and patience shown by state administrations in their fight against the pandemic and in simultaneously ensuring the welfare of the people. He said, “Although in the last 24 hours, 3.48 lakh new cases were registered, a net decline of 11,122 cases is recorded in the active caseload. This is the second consecutive day of decline in the active cases.” He stressed on the continued need to follow COVID Appropriate Behaviour along with renewed and stringent focus on containment measures for addressing the present surge. He noted that the stringent adherence to implementation of micro-containment zones has also helped.
Underscoring the critical importance of vaccination drive, the Minister observed, “Vaccination is our Big Weapon in the Fight against COVID19”. He added that India is the fastest country globally to reach the landmark of 17 cr doses in 114 days. He thanked all the states and UTs for their contribution in achieving this feat. He also pointed out that of this, while 13.66 crore people have been administered the first dose, the second dose has been administered to only to 3.86 crore.Hence it is very important that we first focus more on second dose vaccinations. States should not lose sight of those who are to get the second dose of COVID vaccine: 70% at minimum ought to be allocated to meet the requirement of second dose, while 30% ought to be reserved for the first dose.” Dr Harsh Vardhan also urged states to ensure that the healthcare workers and frontline workers are fully vaccinated, as they form the vulnerable categories.
The Union Health Minister added that under the Liberalised Pricing & Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy, along with free vaccination under GOI channel and states can use the non-GOI channel to have a holistic vaccination coverage of their population. Every month 50% of the vaccine doses of every manufacturer would be available for direct procurement by the State Govts & Private Hospitals while Government of India would continue to procure its share of 50% of the vaccines and would continue to make it available to the State Govts totally free of cost as was being done earlier.
Dr Harsh Vardhan also pointed out that various measures are being taken by the Union Government to ramp up vaccine production in the country. Vaccines for COVID-19, which have been developed & are being manufactured in foreign countries and which have been granted emergency approval for restricted use by USFDA, EMA, UK MHRA, PMDA Japan or which are listed in WHO(Emergency Use Listing) may be granted emergency use approval in India. The production capacity of the vaccine manufacturers is also being ramped up. While it will touch 8 cr doses by May 2021, it will touch 9 cr in June 2021.
Dr Sujeet K. Singh, Director NCDC presented a granular analysis of the COVID trajectory in the States. He pointed out that the apparent shift of COVID-19 towards lower age groups is driven by the fact that higher age groups have been vaccinated in considerable proportion by now. He suggested the ramp up of testing and vaccination in peri-urban areas as the spread is now going to peri-urban and rural places. He further added that irrespective of the COVID variants, measures for preparedness and protection remain the same. He urged the states for augmentation of medical infrastructure for testing and vaccination to mount a sturdy response to the Pandemic.
There was comprehensive and detailed discussion on various aspects of COVID management including ramping up of hospital infrastructure; increased testing;stringent restrictive measures for breaking the chain of transmission; and stress on COVID Appropriate Behaviour among the masses. Critical bottlenecks in vaccine procurement and administration were discussed.
Ms Vandana Gurnani, AS&MD (NHM),Ms. Arti Ahuja, AS (Health), MoHFW,Dr. Sujeet K. Singh, Director, NCDC were present in the meeting along with Principal Secretary (Health), Additional Chief Secretary (Health)and State Surveillance Officer of the concerned states/UTs.
Government of India is receiving international donations and aid of COVID-19 relief medical supplies and equipment since 27 April 2021 from different countries/organisations to augment its efforts in fighting the unprecedented surge in COVID in the country. Various Ministries/Departments of Government of India have seamlessly collaborated through a streamlined and systematic mechanism under the “Whole of Government” approach, for expeditiously delivering the incoming global aid to States and UTs.
Cumulatively, 9200 Oxygen Concentrators; 5243 Oxygen Cylinders; 19 Oxygen Generation Plants; 5913 ventilators/Bi PAP; ~3.44L Remdesivir vials delivered/ dispatched through road and air, from 27th April 2021 to 10th May 2021.
Major consignments received on 10th May 2021 from UAE, Israel, USA, Netherland include:
Ventilators/BiPAP/CPAP (610)
Oxygen Concentrators (300)
Favipiravir - 12600 strips (each strip contains 40 tablets)
The process of effective immediate allocation, and streamlined delivery to the recipient states/UTs and institutions is being comprehensively monitoring this on a regular basis by the Union Health Ministry. A dedicated Coordination Cell has been created in the Union Health Ministry to coordinate the receipt and allocation of foreign COVID relief material as grants, aid and donations. This Cell started functioning from 26th April 2021. A Standard Operating Procedure has been framed and implemented by the Health Ministry since 2nd May, 2021.
Photo 1. Oxygen Generator from UK capable of an output of 500 Litres per Minute was dispatched last night from Delhi to Chirang, Assam, by rail.
Photo 2. Medical Relief from Kuwait comprising of 2 ISO Oxygen Tanks containing 40 metric tonnes of Liquid Oxygen, 200 Oxygen Cylinders and 4 high-flow Oxygen Concentrators was brought by INS Kolkata last evening to Mangalore Port, for distribution to various States.
Photo 3. Medical relief from Singapore consisting of 3600 oxygen cylinders was brought by INS Airavat last evening to Visakhapatnam port, for distribution to States.
Vaccination forms an integral component of the five point strategy of Government of India of containment and management of the pandemic (including Test, Track, Treat and COVID Appropriate Behaviour). Government of India has been supporting the nationwide vaccination drive by providing COVID Vaccines free of cost to the States and UTs.
Implementation of the Liberalized and Accelerated Phase 3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccination has started from 1st May 2021. In the Strategy it is made clear that in every month only 50% of the total Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) cleared vaccine doses of any manufacturer would be procured by Govt. of India. Govt of India would continue to procure its share of 50% of the monthly CDL cleared vaccines & would continue to make it available to the State Govts totally free of cost as was being dome earlier.
Government of India has so far provided more than 18 crore vaccine doses (18,00,03,160) to States/UTs Free of Cost. Of this, the total consumption including wastages is 17,09,71,429 doses (as per data available at 8 am today).
More than 90 lakh COVID Vaccine doses (90,31,691) are still available with the States/UTs to be administered. States with negative balance are showing more consumption (including wastage) than vaccine supplied as they have not reconciled the vaccine they have supplied to Armed Forces.
Furthermore, more than 7 lakh (7,29,610) vaccine doses will be received in addition by the States/UTs within the next 3 days.
