
Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi advocated for mutual recognition of Covid vaccine certificates by countries to make international travel easier, the Indian government on Thursday announced that differently-abled and people with restricted mobility will be inoculated with Covid vaccine doses at their homes.
In a press briefing, union health ministry officials said even as the number of daily new cases is witnessing a downward trend, the country is still facing the COVID-19 second wave.
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About two third of the adult population in India has been vaccinated with single dose of Covid vaccine.
Around 66% of people above 18 years of age have received at least one dose. About 23% of this group have received both doses. “It's an important milestone,” said Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, NITI Aayog.
“We have been able to achieve this due to tremendous work by some states,” said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.
The officials also added, 62.73% of total infections reported last week were from Kerala alone. It is the only state with over one lakh active Covid cases.
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As per the officials, 33 districts in the country are now reporting over 10% weekly positivity rate, while 23 are recording between 5% and 10%.
In the guidelines for the upcoming festive season, the mass gatherings have to be avoided in containment zones and districts with over 5% positivity rate.
(With inputs from agencies)