Covid India Updates: Total number of vaccine doses given in India crosses 18 crore

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 18 crore, the Union health ministry said on Friday. The number of coronavirus vaccine doses administered in India stands at 18,04,29,261 according to the 8:00 pm provisional report.

The ministry said 3,25,071 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years received their first dose of COVID vaccine on Thursday and cumulatively 42,55,362 across 32 states and union territories since the start of the third phase of the vaccination drive.

Mumbai city reported 1,657 new COVID-19 cases, 2,572 recoveries and 62 deaths in the last 24 hours.  The total recovered cases in Mumbai reached to 6,31,982 today. 

Amid the rising cases of coronavirus pandemic, Maharashtra recorded as many as 39,923 COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total tally of infections in the state to 53,09,215. As many as 695 deaths were reported in the state today, taking the total tally of fatalities to 79,552 in Maharashtra. As many as 53,249 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the number of recovered patients to 47,07,980.

The number of active cases stands at 5,19,254.

The 2-DG drug developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) could be a game-changer in the fight against COVID, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said on Friday.

"The 2-DG drug developed by DRDO is a big breakthrough and could be a game-changer in the battle against pandemic as it helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces oxygen dependence," Sudhakar was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office.

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Drug firm Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Friday said as part of a limited pilot, the soft launch of the COVID vaccine Sputnik V has commenced and the first dose of the vaccine was administered in Hyderabad. The first consignment of imported doses of the Sputnik V vaccine landed in India on May 1, and received regulatory clearance from the Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli, on May 13, 2021.

"Further consignments of imported doses are expected over the upcoming months. Subsequently, supply of the Sputnik V vaccine will commence from Indian manufacturing partners," it added.

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The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 160.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.34 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Friday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 160,825,974 and 3,340,130, respectively.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 32,852,543 and 584,478, respectively, according to the CSSE.

In terms of infections, India follows in the second place with 23,703,665 cases.

The other worst countries with over 3 million cases are Brazil (15,433,989), France (5,902,343), Turkey (5,083,996), Russia (4,857,303), the UK (4,460,405), Italy (4,139,160), Spain (3,598,452), Germany (3,578,125), Argentina (3,242,103) and Colombia (3,067,879), the CSSE figures showed.

In terms of deaths, Brazil comes second with 430,417 fatalities.

Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are India (258,317), Mexico (219,089), the UK (127,912), Italy (123,745), Russia (112,795) and France (107,411).

Witnessing a decline, India on Friday reported 3,43,144 new Covid cases and 4,000 fatalities, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. In the past 22 days India's daily Covid tally has plateaued over the three-lakh-mark and over 3,000 casualties for a fortnight.

On Wednesday, India recorded 4,205 fresh Covid deaths, while on May 7, the country had recorded its highest ever cases of 4,14,188.

India's total tally of Covid-19 cases now stands at 2,40,46,809 with 37,04,893 active cases and 2,62,317 deaths so far. 

According to the Health Ministry, a total of 3,44,776 people have been discharged in the last 24 hours, with 2,00,79,599 being cured from Covid till date.

The Health Ministry said that a total of 17,92,98,584 people have been vaccinated so far in the country, including 20,27,162 who were administered vaccines in the last 24 hours. 

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 31,13,24,100 samples have been tested up to May 13 for Covid-19. Of these 18,75,515 samples were tested on Thursday.

-- IANS

In the biggest indication that the United States is fast returning to pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said fully vaccinated people are no longer required to wear masks. The recommendation holds true for both indoors and outdoors, the CDC said.

Following the announcement on Thursday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appeared before reporters at the Rose Garden of the White House without wearing masks. "I think it's a great milestone. A great day. It's been made possible by the extraordinary success we've had in vaccinating so many Americans so quickly," Biden said.

Referring to the latest CDC guidelines, Biden said fully vaccinated people are at a very, very low risk of contracting COVID-19. “Therefore, if you've been fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask. But if you've not been vaccinated, or if you've been getting a two-shot vaccine and you've only had your first shot but not your second, or you haven't waited the full two weeks after your second shot, you still need to wear a mask," the President said.

He said 250 million vaccine shots have been given in 114 days.

(PTI)