India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage surpasses 133.88 crores: Union Health Ministry

As per provisional reports, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has surpassed 133.88 Cr (1,33,88,12,577), with 66,98,601 vaccine doses administered in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Health Ministry. This was achieved after 1,40,27,706 sessions, the ministry added. 

COVID-19 cases in India

India has reported 5,784 new COVID-19 cases in the previous 24 hours, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. According to numbers issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare this morning, the country recorded 7,995 recoveries and 252 fatalities in the last 24 hours. 

According to the Health Ministry, "a single-day spike of 5,784 new COVID-19 infections and 252 fatalities puts India's overall number of cases to 3,47,03,644, with a death toll of 4,75,888."

As a result, the number of daily COVID-19 infections in the country dropped drastically. According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the country has reduced to 88,993. The number of new cases of Coronavirus infection has been below 15,000 for the past 47 days, according to the data.

The overall number of people infected with COVID-19 is currently 34,703,644, with 475,888 deaths, according to Ministry of Health data. The active caseload has dropped to 88,993 cases, the lowest level in 563 days. With a 1.37% case fatality rate, the number of people who have recovered from the virus has climbed to 3,41,38,763. The active COVID-19 caseload decreased by 2,463 cases in under 24 hours. On average, the daily positive rate was 0.58%. It has been less than two per cent for the past 71 days. The week's positivity rate was 0.68%. It has been below 1% for the past 30 days, according to the health ministry.

Vaccine efficacy against Omicron 

Based on preliminary findings, the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, is more transmissible than the previous Delta strain and decreases vaccination efficacy even further, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, the variant is less likely to induce serious symptoms, according to the study. While the Delta variation, which was originally discovered in India earlier this year, was responsible for the greatest number of infections worldwide, the Omicron variant, which was discovered in South Africa, has resulted in a huge number of cases worldwide, with South Africa leading the way. It has also compelled countries to enforce international flight bans and reimpose domestic restrictions in order to slow the virus's spread.

Image: PTI