India’s first case of BA.4 Omicron COVID variant confirmed by INSACOG in Hyderabad

The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) has confirmed India has reported its first case of BA.4 subvariant of the Omicron strain. The coronavirus strain, which is like BA.2 subvariant, was detected in Hyderabad, ANI said quoting its sources.

According to UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), will data till April 22, the BA.4 subvariant was present in Britain, Austria, the US, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Australia and Botswana. 

BA.4 has been declared a variant of concern by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The public health body said that there is no evidence of this variant over previous variants but said that it appears to be more transmissible.

India on Friday reported 2,259 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the total tally of infection to 4,31,31,822. With 20 new COVID-related fatalities, the total number of deaths reached 5,24,323.

Centre calls for intensive 'mission mode' push to Covid vaccination across country

The Centre on Friday advised all states and Union Territories to plan for a two-month-long 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign 2.0 from June to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination across the country.

The health ministry has urged states and UTs to significantly expedite the pace towards full inoculation by saturating all eligible beneficiaries.

The objective of the 'Har Ghar Dastak 2.0' mission is to vaccinate the eligible population group for first, second and precaution doses through door-to-door campaigns, with "focussed campaigns for old age homes, schools and colleges including the out-of-school children (for focussed coverage of children aged 12-18 years population), prisons, brick kilns, etc", a ministry statement said.

Calling the COVID-19 vaccine a precious national resource, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan advised states and UTs to ensure that there is no wastage of vaccines. He urged them to follow the 'first expiry first out' rule, where doses that have an expiry date earlier should be used first.