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Press Release: India fights COVID-19

Posted on: September 01, 2021 | Back | Print

Embassy of India

Cairo

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Press Release

India fights COVID-19

India strengthened its fight against Corona Virus by administering a record 13 million vaccine doses on 31st August 2021, taking the cumulative Covid-19 vaccinations in the country past the 650 million mark. Out of the total doses administered, over 280 million doses have gone to the 18-44 age group, followed by 131 million to 45-59 age group, and 88 million to people over the 60 years of age. More than 500 million or over 50% of the eligible adult population have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while almost 150 million or 15% of the eligible adults have been administered both vaccine doses.

2) Ninety-nine percent of healthcare workers have received their first shot, and 83 percent are fully vaccinated. All frontline workers have received their first shot, and 79 percent are fully vaccinated.

3) India uses three vaccines, the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, known locally as Covishield, Covaxin by Indian firm Bharat Biotech, and Russian-made Sputnik V. India recently boosted its vaccination programme by approving ZyCoV-D developed by Zydus Cadila, the first vaccine for those under 18. The ZyCoV-D vaccine is also the world's first DNA vaccine against Covid-19. Several more vaccines are in various stages of approval. More than 57,000 centres, primarily state-run, offer free jabs, but people can also pay for a dose at private facilities. The government is spending around $5bn to provide free doses at state-run clinics, public health centres, and hospitals.

4) As of 31st August 2021, a total of 31,986,322 patients have recovered since the beginning of the pandemic. India's recovery rate has been improving consistently and now stands at 97.5 percent. India reported less than 50,000 cases for 65 consecutive days, registering 30,941 new infections on 31st August 2021. While the cases are declining, the testing capacity has been ramped up extensively to identify a COVID-19 case before it infects others.

5) The declining positivity rate is an indication that the country is slowly but steadily overcoming the pandemic. The daily positivity rate has been below five percent for 85 consecutive days, and the weekly positivity rate has remained less than 3 percent for the last 67 days hinting towards a gradual decline in the spread of the virus.