Vij, who had tested positive for coronavirus on December 5 after taking a trial dose of Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine ‘Covaxin’ was recently referred to Medanta Hospital Gurugram

CHANDIGARH/GURUGRAM: Haryana Home and Health Minister, Anil Vij, who is undergoing treatment for Covid-19 continues to make steady progress.

Vij, who is undergoing treatment for the novel coronavirus at Gurugram’s Medanta-The Medicity is feeling better and continues to make steady progress, according to the hospital.

In a media bulletin issued on Sunday, Dr. AK Dubey, Medical Superintendent, Medanta-The Medicity informed that though Vij is still in the ICU on oxygen support, his oxygen requirement is reduced and there is no fever.

His blood reports are also showing an improving trend. Overall the doctors are satisfied with his progress, the bulletin stated.

Vij, who had tested positive for coronavirus on December 5 after taking a trial dose of Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine ‘Covaxin’ was recently referred to Medanta Hospital Gurugram.

The Haryana Minister was administered a trial dose of Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine ‘Covaxin’ at a hospital in Ambala on November 20. He had offered to be the first volunteer for the third phase trial of Covaxin, which started in the state.

The Union Health Minister said that right now India has just around three lakh active cases and its recovery rate is 95 to 96 percent which is significantly higher than many developed countries.

NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that the worst is over concerning coronavirus in the country but people still need to follow Covid appropriate behaviour to stay safe.

“At a personal level, I think that the worst is over concerning the Covid-19 situation. I have been following this situation right from the time when we had our first case on January 30, 2020. Since then, I have watched everything from the closest of quarters with meticulous precision. If we look at the things in the last three-four months then things are in a declining phase,

“But we need to strictly follow Covid appropriate behaviour and cannot afford to relax on that front,” he added.

Substantiating his point, the Union Health Minister said that right now India has just around three lakh active cases and its recovery rate is 95 to 96 percent which is significantly higher than many developed countries.

“Right now, we have just about three lakh active cases in the country. A few months ago, we had almost 10 lakh cases. Out of over one crore cases that have happened, around 95 lakh persons have already recovered and gone back home,” he said.

“We have the highest recovery rates in the world: between 95 and 96 percent. Compared to some of the developed countries of the world like the USA, Russia, or Brazil whose recovery rate ranges between 60 and 80 percent, we are better placed,” he added.

Dr Vardhan said: “Our fatality rate is also significantly low at 1.45 percent now. I feel the worse may probably be over but with a note of caution.”

“The major tool against Covid-19 will ultimately be masks, hand hygiene and physical distancing that we all need to follow. The troubles that we had to face as a country due to Covid-19 are on the decline. In the coming year, the research of the scientists in the direction of developing a vaccine will also be successful,” he added.

India may begin vaccinating people against coronavirus in January and the government’s first priority has been safety and efficacy of the vaccine, Dr Vardhan said.

“I personally feel that maybe in January in any stage or any week, there can be a time when are in a position to give the first Covid vaccine shot to people of India,” .

The vaccine cannot be forced upon anyone but the government will educate and give the right information to people about it, Vardhan said.

“Vaccine hesitancy issues will be addressed through education. The government will spread awareness and educate people about the vaccine that this is for their own good and benefit,

He also said that the government had prioritised who will get the vaccines after observing international trends and keeping in mind the guidelines of the World Health Organisation.

“The ideal time would be when we reach a point where everyone can be vaccinated. But if there is a limited number of vaccines, it is important to prioritise how who will be the first to get it. Before taking a decision, the government consulted experts, those in the ministries, people in the state governments, and those involved in making vaccines. These decisions have been made while observing international trends and WHO guidelines,” the Union Minister said.

He said the first one crore people to be vaccinated will be the health workers in the private and public sector, while the next two crores to be vaccinated will be frontline workers, sanitation staff, police, and other frontline workers, followed by people over the age of 50.

“Over 80 percent of the people who died due to Covid-19 have been over 50 years. There are about 26 crore people in this category. After that, people below 50 with health issues like BP, heart and kidney problems will be vaccinated,” he said.

“The government will reach out to people to get their vaccines but if someone does not want to take the vaccine, they cannot be forced,” he added.

Earlier, the Union Health Minister had said that India may begin vaccinating people for Covid-19 by January, with the first priority being the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

On Saturday, the minister had said that the country’s scientists and health experts have worked on the development of an indigenous vaccine and in the upcoming six to seven months India will have the capacity to inoculate about 30 crore people.

There are currently nine Covid-19 vaccine candidates in different phases of clinical trials in India — six are under clinical trials and three in the pre-clinical phase.

Palakkad (Kerala), Dec 17: The Kerala Police on Thursday registered a case against a few BJP workers for allegedly unfurling a giant banner with ‘Jai Sri Ram’ written on it from the terrace of the Palakkad municipal corporation building after the party won in the recently held local body polls here.

The case was registered after the Palakkad municipal secretary filed a complaint with the police saying that “there was an attempt to destroy communal harmony”, an official said.

During the victory celebrations in front of the municipal corporation on Wednesday evening, a few workers were seen in a purported video unfurling a giant banner with ‘Jai Sri Ram’ written in Malayalam and an image of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from top of the building.

The workers also unfurled another banner with pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the police said.

“The special branch deputy superintendent has been asked to file a report with regard to the incident,” district police chief Sujithdas S told PTI.

The party retained the municipality by winning 28 of the 52 wards.

New Delhi, Dec 18: A medium-intensity earthquake of magnitude 4.2 hit Alwar district in Rajasthan on Thursday, tremors of which were felt in Delhi-NCR, the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said.

The epicentre of the quake was Alwar in Rajasthan, according to the NCS.

The earthquake of magnitude 4.2 occurred at 11.46 pm at a depth of five kilometres, it said.

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has trolled PM Narendra Modi on Twitter by sharing a video on which PM Modi refusing to use Mask at a public event.

The video is getting viral on the social networking platform and many users have criticised PM Modi for the gesture.

PM Modi can be seen in the video speaking to the shopkeeper who sells the masks and other hand craft items. When the seller requests to PM to wear the Mask fro which he refuses and also seen PM Modi not wearing any mask in the video. 

Sharing the video on Twitter, AAP took to mock PM Modi and also spread awareness on mask usage.

AAP has said in the tweet, “Wear a mask. Don’t be like Modi ji.”