COVID: Centre committed to provide vaccines to all states, UTs says MoS Pawar

Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar criticised the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Maharashtra for attempting to politicise the COVID vaccination drive. The MoS said that the Centre is adamant about providing the COVID-19 vaccines available to all the states and the UTs across the country. Pawar said while speaking to the media on Tuesday, "The central government is committed to making the vaccine available to all. It should not be politicised. Some states are making allegations. If Maharashtra had not been vaccinated, there would not have been so many vaccinations." She further mentioned that there is no shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in Maharashtra.

MoS Pawar has further asked people to follow the COVID-19 guideline released by the Centre. She said, "Whether it is Maharashtra or Kerala, the number of patients has not decreased. Be careful. The Centre has given guidelines on this. It is important to follow the rules given by the Centre." https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/general-news/mos-health-visits-sii-conveys-gratitude-for-playing-key-role-in-covid-vaccination-drive.htmlBharati Pravin Pawar visited the Serum Institute of India in Maharashtra's Pune on Tuesday. She tweeted, "Conveyed my gratitude for playing a crucial role in the COVID vaccination campaign in India especially when we are on the way of achieving 100 crore vaccination of our citizens under PM's leadership."

India’s current COVID-19 situation

India reported 14,623 fresh COVID infections while active cases fell to 1,78,098, the lowest in 229 days. As per the data updated at 8 am, the death toll has risen to 4,52,651 with 197 new fatalities. Kerala recorded 7,643 fresh cases and 77 deaths in the last 24 hours along with 10,488 recoveries, bringing the overall number of recoveries to 47,60,781. The active caseload in the state stands at 80,262. 82,408 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.

So far, the country has reported 4,52,651 deaths, including 1,39,865 in Maharashtra, 37,967 in Karnataka, 35,928 in Tamil Nadu, 27,002 in Kerala, 25,090 in Delhi, 22,898 in Uttar Pradesh, and 18,998 in West Bengal. In addition, 41,36,142 vaccination doses were provided in the previous 24 hours. According to preliminary data, India's COVID-19 immunisation coverage has surpassed 99,12,82,283 as of 7 am today. 

(With inputs from ANI)