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PM Modi’s Principal Secretary Mr. P.K. Mishra has directed States/UTs to expand the capacity of vaccine administration by operationalising as many health facilities as possible as vaccination centres He also noted that administrations should ensure equitable and easy access to all.
According to a release issued by the Health Ministry Dr. Misra noted that beneficiaries should have convenient registration and this should be done by maximizing available slots on Co-WIN with all vaccination centrespublishing sessions for upto 4 weeks ahead.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the latest updates:
Maharashtra
Aurangabad police to collect fine from mask rule violators
Aurangabad Municipal Commissioner Astik Kumar Pandey has authorised the city police to impose fine on those not wearing mask here in Maharashtra, a civic official said on Wednesday.
Till now, teams of the city civic body were collecting a fine of Rs 500 each from those not wearing face coverings.
The municipal commissioner, in an order issued on Tuesday, also authorised the city police to collect the fine from the mask rule violators, the official said.
He said out of the total fine collected by the police, 50 per cent will go to the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation and remaining will be deposited in the police welfare fund.
With the addition of 550 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, the infection count in the district has reached 53,907, another official said.
National
India recoveries surpass 1.09 crore
India’s COVID-19 tally rose to 1,12,62,707 with 17,921 fresh cases being reported in a day, while the recoveries surpassed 1.09 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The death toll increased to 1,58,063 with 133 new fatalities, according to the Ministry data updated at 8 am.
The number of active cases reduced to 1,84,598 which now comprises 1.64 per cent of the infection count.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,09,20,046, which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 96.96 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.40 per cent, the data stated.
USA
Alaska becomes 1st U.S. state to open vaccines to nearly all
Alaska has become the first state to drop eligibility requirements for COVID-19 vaccines and allow anyone 16 or older who lives or works in the state to get a vaccine, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Tuesday.
Mr. Dunleavy made the announcement after his own bout with COVID-19, which he described as an inconvenience and said underscored his own desire to be vaccinated. He said he did not become severely ill but did not want “to be laid up in the house again,” impact his family or possibly spread the virus to others.
He described expanding eligibility for vaccines in Alaska as a “game changer,” particularly with the summer tourist season looming and as the state seeks to rebuild its pandemic-tattered economy.
He said he respects those who do not wish to get a vaccine and wanted to relay his personal experience for those mulling vaccination. “I would ask that you give some due consideration,” the Republican said.
Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, said officials were seeing open vaccine appointments and wanted to act to allow as many people who want a vaccine to get one. More appointments will be added as vaccine is moved around the state and additional doses come in, she said.
“This does feel like a gigantic milestone in so many ways to get to the point where we can offer protection for anyone who wants it in the state,” Zink said during a news conference with Mr. Dunleavy.
Alaska has led states in the percentage of its population to have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker.
Australia
Australia to complete vaccination programme by October
Australia’s pace of COVID-19 immunisation drive is not a cause for concern and the vaccination programme will be completed by the end of October, authorities said on Wednesday, as the country finished administering more than 100,000 first doses.
Australia last month began inoculating its 25 million population but the immunisation drive is running behind schedule as officials slowed vaccinations after two elderly people were inadvertently given four times the recommended dose.
“This is not a race, we have no burning platform in Australia. We are taking it as quickly and carefully and safely as we can,” Health Secretary Brendan Murphy told reporters.
“We’re not like the U.S. or the UK or most other countries in the world where they’ve got people in hospital dying. We can take our time, set up our systems, do it safely and carefully, we are expanding our rollout every day.”
Murphy said the country will finish the vaccination programme on time by the end of October despite the initial delays as the weekly dosage target is expected to reach 1 million by March-end when CSL Ltd begins to locally produce AstraZeneca doses.
Australia has secured about 54 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which Murphy called the “the workforce vaccine for Australia”, with 50 million to be locally produced.
Vaccine safety
Covaxin Phase-2 trials show vaccine safe
Covaxin, India’s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, showed enhanced immune response as well as better reactogenicity (reaction symptoms) and safety outcomes in the phase 2 trial, interim results that have now been published in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases said.
The publication comes days after Covaxin maker Bharat Biotech said the vaccine demonstrated an interim clinical efficacy of 81% in its later phase 3 clinical trial. Developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), it is a two dose vaccine, given 28 days apart.
Delhi/National
Wear masks properly or get off plane: Delhi HC
Flight passengers who exhibit stubborn reluctance to wear their masks properly, could now get offloaded immediately or be placed in the “no-fly” list, as per a fresh guidelines issued by the Delhi High Court.
Watch | Coronavirus: Can masks protect you?
“It is made clear that masks should be worn as directed by governmental instructions, covering the nose and mouth, and not worn merely covering the mouth or below the chin,” Justice C. Hari Shankar ordered
Maharashtra
No immediate lockdown in Mumbai: BMC
Despite a surge in COVID-19 cases, the situation in Mumbai is under control and there is no need to impose a lockdown now, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Chahal said on Tuesday.
According to civic officials, the spike in cases is a result of an increase in daily testing. The BMC has ramped up testing significantly from 11,000 to 15,000 tests conducted in January to over 20,000 at present. As many as 23,000 COVID-19 tests were conducted by the civic body on Monday.
Karnataka
Don’t take coercive steps on school fee row, HC tells govt.
The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday directed the State government not to take any coercive action against members of the Association of India Schools, affiliated to the CBSE and the ICSE, for any violation of the government’s order asking schools not to collect more than 70% of the tuition fee charged for the previous academic year.
National
Centre’s no to special classification of lawyers for vaccine procurement
The Centre on Tuesday informed the Delhi High Court that it is not desirable to create a special classification of lawyers for getting priority in Covid-19 vaccination.
“…the term frontline worker is used only for those citizens who are required to be directly exposed to the Covid infected patients,” the Centre said.
Last week, the High Court had asked the Centre to respond to the issue of vaccination of the members of the judiciary, the employees/ staff working in the Courts, as well as the advocates on priority and without limitations of their age or physical condition.
(With inputs from our Correspondents and agencies)
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