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In a remarkable achievement for India, over 75 per cent of the country’s adult population are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed on Sunday.

“With the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Prayas’, India has vaccinated 75 per cent of its adult population with both doses of the vaccine. We are getting stronger in the fight against Corona. We have to follow all the rules and administer the vaccine as soon as possible,” Mandaviya tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated fellow citizens for this “momentous feat” and said he is proud of all those who are making the vaccination drive a success. Tagging a tweet by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in which he stated that India has achieved its goal of vaccinating 75 per cent adult population against Covid, the prime minister said, “75% of all adults are fully vaccinated. Congratulations to our fellow citizens for this momentous feat.”

“Proud of all those who are making our vaccination drive a success,” he said.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/over-75-of-indias-adult-population-fully-vaccinated-against-covid-19/articleshow/89216240.cms

India has administered more than 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines since starting its ambitious vaccination program in January.

Government data showed 708 million people, or around 75% of the eligible population, received at least one dose of vaccine while 30% are now fully inoculated against the disease. Only those above 18 are currently allowed to receive the shots.

“This achievement belongs to India, every citizen of India,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter, according to CNBC’s translation of his remarks in Hindi. “I express my gratitude to all the vaccine manufacturing companies of the country, workers engaged in vaccine transportation, health sector professionals engaged in vaccine development.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/21/india-covid-more-than-1-billion-vaccine-doses-given.html

The Narendra Modi government on Thursday revealed that the country had inoculated 50 per cent of its eligible population with the first dose Covid-19 vaccine.

Confirming the development, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya took to Twitter to state that 5️0 per cent of the eligible population had been inoculated with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Data revealed by the health ministry revealed that the country’s vaccination coverage had crossed 61 crores (61,10,43,573). Nearly 68 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Thursday alone.

The Modi government has been pushing the states to accelerate the pace of Covid-19 vaccination throughout the country.

https://newsable.asianetnews.com/health-life/50-per-cent-indian-adult-population-has-received-first-covid-vaccine-dose-vpn-qygguh

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India has administered more than 8.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the past 24 hours, government data shows, close to its all-time record and speeding up a campaign to inoculate all eligible adults by December.

The surge in inoculations came alongside a sharp decline in daily new infections that fell to 25,166, the lowest since March 16, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

India has undertaken one of the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination drives and has so far administered 554 million doses, giving at least one dose to about 46 percent of its estimated 944 million adults.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/17/india-covid-vaccinations-record-new-cases-five-month-low

Vaccines targeting Covid-19 are able to curb deaths and hospitalization in patients substantially, including those infected by the highly-transmissible delta variant that drove India’s devastating second wave and is now triggering curbs from Los Angeles to Melbourne.

About 0.4% died among those who got infected after inoculation — called breakthrough infections — while nearly 10% needed hospitalization, according to a new study by researchers led by Indian Council of Medical Research’s Nivedita Gupta. The study, which analyzed genome sequencing data of 677 Covid patients, found 86% of the fully-vaccinated cases were due to the delta variant.

The findings underscore the crucial role of shots in preventing extreme outcomes among Covid-19 sufferers and allays doubts around vaccine efficacy, especially with respect to the Delta variant that has rapidly spread to at least 104 countries.

“This clearly suggests that vaccination reduces severity of disease, hospitalisation and mortality,” said the study. “Therefore, enhancing the vaccination drive and immunising the populations quickly would be the most important strategy to prevent further deadly waves of Covid-19 and would reduce the burden on the healthcare system.”

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/about-04-per-cent-died-of-covid-19-after-vaccination-in-delta-hit-india

India’s federal government will provide free coronavirus shots to any adult starting later this month and take back control of the country’s vaccination drive, marred by delays and shortages, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Monday.

The changes reverse a policy launched in April which tasked states and the private sector with vaccinating those between the ages of 18 and 44. The federal government will now procure 75% of all vaccines directly from the manufacturers and provide them to the states for free, while the remaining 25% will be purchased by the private sector.

Under the earlier policy, the federal government gave free shots to people above 45 years of age and front-line workers, leaving states and private hospitals to administer inoculations to those between 18 and 44.

Although most states vaccinated those in this age group for free, they were competing for doses with the private sector. Experts say vaccine makers reaped more profits by selling at a higher price to the private sector, causing many states to scramble for supplies.

Modi’s announcement in a nationally televised speech came as pressure was mounting on his government to speed up vaccinations and ensure equity. Last week, the Supreme Court called the previous vaccination policy “arbitrary and irrational.”

https://apnews.com/article/india-lifestyle-coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-914d95c368553f08f0d4d307d797a078

Is India beginning to see a COVID-19 vaccine effect? In three southern states and two major cities for which data are available, the share of the elderly in total deaths has begun to decline after vaccinations began for this demographic, an IndiaSpend analysis of data and interviews with experts show. The decline in share is not necessarily because cases and deaths among younger people have increased.

India began vaccinating healthcare and frontline workers on January 16, 2021; people over the age of 60 (and those over 45 years, with comorbidities) from March 1; people between the ages of 45 and 59 from April 1; and people between the ages of 18 and 44 from May 1. As of 3.30 p.m. on May 12, India has injected 137.3 million people with one dose of either Covishield or Covaxin, and a further 37.8 million people with both doses. Among those aged 60 and above, nearly 39% have received at least one dose of a vaccine and just under 12% have received both doses by May 11.

Vaccination coverage varies substantially by region. Kerala has vaccinated over 54% of its population over the age of 60 with at least one dose, Karnataka 48% and Maharashtra 40%, while Tamil Nadu has the lowest at only 17%.

Both Covishield and Covaxin report a lowered likelihood of contracting mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 and of dying from COVID-19, two weeks after the first dose, and an even lower risk after receiving the second dose.

Since March of this year, the share of people aged 60 and above in Mumbai’s total COVID-19 deaths has steadily declined. By May 2021, the share of people aged 60 and above in total COVID-19 deaths has fallen to its lowest share since July 2020. It isn’t just deaths–the share of the elderly in new detected COVID-19 cases has fallen to its lowest point since May 2020 as well.

A similar pattern is visible in Pune. Since the middle of April, the share of people aged 60 and above in weekly reported COVID-19 deaths has fallen to its lowest point since July and could fall below 50% of deaths within two weeks if this trend continues.

Three southern states–Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka–show the same trend: The share of the elderly in total deaths has consistently fallen since late March. While the data for Tamil Nadu and Kerala are complete, the data for Karnataka are incomplete, but show the same trend.

https://www.indiaspend.com/covid-19/covid-vaccination-is-leading-to-fewer-cases-deaths-among-elderly-in-some-states-748193