Latest News Live Updates: The active case count stands at 1,59,590. (File)
New Delhi:
Coronavirus vaccines will be capped at Rs 250 per shot at private hospitals and health centres, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. Vaccines will be free in all government hospitals and centres.
The government on Friday had said it will let people choose their coronavirus vaccination centres when the campaign expands Monday to cover those over 60 and those over 45 with illnesses.
They can register through the government’s CoWIN 2.0 portal, the Aarogya Setu app, or walk into vaccination centres; states will also actively mobilise people.
There are more than 10,000 private hospitals in the country that are cleared to give out vaccines apart from all government hospitals and health centres.
India registered a single-day spike of over 16,000 COVID-19 cases for the third day in a row on Saturday, pushing the infection tally to 1,10,79,979, while the recoveries surged to 1,07,63,451, according to Union Health Ministry data.
A total of 16,488 novel coronavirus cases were reported in a day, while the death count rose to 1,56,938 with 113 new fatalities, showed the data updated at 8 am on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in a boost for the Congress-led coalition before next month’s elections in Assam, the Bodoland Peoples’ Front or BPF on Saturday announced that it was quitting the alliance headed by the ruling BJP and joining the opposition front.
“To work for Peace, Unity, and Development and to bring a stable government, free from corruption in Assam, the Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) has decided to join hands with MAHAJATH. BPF shall no longer maintain friendship or alliance with BJP. In the forthcoming Assam Assembly Election BPF shall work hand to hand with Mahajath,” BPF leader Hagrama Mohilary said in a statement on Facebook.
Here are the Latest News Live Updates:
“Deal Firmly With Violations”: Centre To States Amid Surge In Covid Cases
The Centre on Saturday advised states and UTs reporting an increase in coronavirus cases to enforce COVID-appropriate behaviour by dealing firmly with violations and ensure effective surveillance in case of potential super spreading events so as not to squander last year’s gains.
Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a high-level review meeting with chief secretaries of states and UTs of Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir.
These states and UTs have been reporting a high COVID-19 active caseload or an increasing trend in new cases in the last week.
People With These Comorbidities To Be Prioritised For Covid Vaccination
People who have one of the 20 comorbidities, including diabetes and heart failure with hospital admission in the past one year, will be prioritised in the next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, the government said on Saturday.
The simplified system of certifying people with these comorbidities within the 45-59 years age group was explained to the States Health Departments.
This comes as India is going to start the vaccination of people above 60 years and individuals above 45 years of age having comorbidities against coronavirus, from March 1.
New Zealand’s Auckland Starts Second Lockdown In Month
Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, woke up on Sunday morning to a second lockdown in a month as health authorities try to rein in a coronavirus cluster of the more contagious UK variant.
The seven-day lockdown, announced late Saturday by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, follows a three-day stay-at-home order in mid-February after a local emergence of the UK variant of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Genomic sequencing of a new case recorded on Saturday, which prompted the lockdown, was linked to the existing cluster, health authorities said on Sunday, bringing it to 13 cases.
“It’s unlikely we wouldn’t see more cases,” COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told the state-owned television network TVNZ on Sunday. “How many cases at this point we simply don’t know.”
The new case has been considered infectious for a week. The person, a 21-year-old student, visited a number of public spaces during that time.
US Authorises Johnson & Johnson Covid Vaccine For Emergency Use
The United States on Saturday authorized Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine for emergency use, giving the nation a third shot to battle the outbreak that has killed more than 500,000 Americans.
“The authorization of this vaccine expands the availability of vaccines, the best medical prevention method for Covid-19, to help us in the fight against this pandemic, which has claimed over half a million lives in the United States,” said acting Food and Drug Administration director Janet Woodcock.
