India has set a new milestone with over 50 per cent of the eligible population inoculated with the first dose of Covid vaccine. The country added 44,658 fresh cases over the last 24 hours while deaths from COVID-19 rose by 496.
The daily positivity rate remains less than 3 per cent for the last 28 days and is presently at 2.10 per cent. Active cases constitute 1.06% of total cases, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands 97.60 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said.
Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 61 crore landmark milestone, as per the provisional report issued on Thursday by Union Health Ministry. An official statement from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said that 61,10,43,573 vaccine doses have been administered so far.
Nearly 68 lakh (67,87,305) vaccine doses were administered on Thursday on the 223rd day of the vaccination drive, as per the 7 pm provisional report. "Final reports would be completed for the day by late tonight" a release by the Health Ministry stated.
As per the statement, 47,19,00,520 doses were inoculated as first dose while 13,91,43,053 were administered as the second dose. On Thursday, 46,88,114 vaccine jabs were given as first dose to eligible beneficiaries and 20,99,191 were given as second dose.
Taking to Twitter, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed that 50 per cent of the eligible population is vaccinated with first dose of the vaccine. "India achieves unprecedented milestone! 50 per cent of the eligible population inoculated with the first dose of #COVID19 vaccine. Keep it up India. Let us fight Corona," he wrote.
Here are highlights on Coronavirus Cases:
Kerala continued to report over 30,000 cases for the third consecutive day on Friday and showed an increased Test Positivity Rate, while 179 deaths took the the death count to 20,313.
Around half the people hospitalised with COVID-19 experience at least one persistent symptom up to 12 months after the infection, according to a study published in The Lancet journal on Friday.
A coronavirus infection presents a much higher risk of developing a blood clot than the first dose of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, a large study led by the University of Oxford said on Friday.
A new study has revealed that the side effects of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab against COVID-19 in 12-15-year-olds at high risk of complications from the infection are likely to be mild to moderate and clear up quickly because of certain coexisting conditions.
At a time when Kerala is facing flak for its allegedly failing to manage the Covid situation amid high test positivity rates and increased daily cases, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has rejected the criticism, calling it "unwanted" and suspected it as attempts to undermine people's support in the state's fight against the pandemic, reported news agency PTI.
Gujarat government's move to ease hospital building safety rules amid Covid was sharply criticized today by the Supreme Court, which put the order on hold and said: "To save lives in the pandemic we are killing people with fire."
A Gujarat order on July 8 had said no action would be taken against buildings without "Building Use Permission" till March next year.
The Gujarat government had clarified that this notification didn't mean that rules for fire safety clearance had been relaxed.
Schools in Delhi will reopen in a phased manner starting with Classes 9-12 from September 1 and Classes 6-8 from the 8th, sources told NDTV on Friday.
India has set a new milestone with over 50 per cent of the eligible population inoculated with the first dose of Covid vaccine. The country added 44,658 fresh cases over the last 24 hours while deaths from COVID-19 rose by 496."