PM Modi to hold Council of Ministers meeting today; likely to discuss Omicron surge

Amid an alarming surge in cases of Omicron in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a meeting of the Council of Ministers today, likely to discuss measures in light of the new variant. Although there has been no statement from the PM's office about the issue on which this meeting is being held. The meeting will be convened on Wednesday at 4 pm in which almost all Cabinet Ministers are likely to be present.

As of today, India has recorded 781 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus across 21 states and UTs so far out of which 241 people have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data. Delhi recorded the maximum number of 238 cases followed by Maharashtra at 167, Gujarat 73, Kerala  65, and Telangana 62.

As the world is witnessing a huge spike in infections from the new COVID-19 strain particularly in Europe and the US, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday warned that the new variant could lead to overwhelming healthcare systems. 

India announces vaccine for kids, 'precaution dose' for elders, healthcare workers

Just days ago, PM Modi had recently announced that vaccination against COVID-19 for children between 15-18 years will start from January 3, while "precaution dose" for healthcare and frontline workers would be administered from January 10. The decisions were made amid rising Corornavirus cases linked to the new and highly infectious Omicron variant. 

In an address to the nation on December 25, he said the precaution dose will also be available for citizens above 60 years of age and with comorbidities on the advice of their doctor from January 10 next year as well.

His address came on the day officials said the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted emergency use authorization to indigenously-developed Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children above 12 years with certain conditions. It is the second vaccine to receive the regulator's nod for use among those below 18 years after Zydus Cadila's needle-free COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D.

India's vaccine kitty expands to seven

In yet another boost for India's vaccination, Novavax-SII's Covovax was granted emergency authorization by the DCGI on Tuesday. Covovax, jointly produced by Novavax and Serum Institute of India, is yet to get approval in the United States.

With the latest approval, India's vaccine kitty has expanded to Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V, Moderna vaccine (mRNA-1273), Janssen vaccine, ZyCoV-D, Corbevax and allowed import of any foreign-based vaccine i.e Pfizer.