COVID vaccination in India: 2 mn healthcare workers inoculated so far, says govt

India on Tuesday breached the 2 million-mark in vaccination of healthcare workers. As per the provisional report available with the union health ministry, a cumulative 20.29 lakh vaccinations have been completed so far through 36,572 sessions.

Over 5,615 beneficiaries were vaccinated on Tuesday in five states–Andhra Pradesh (9), Karnataka (429), Rajasthan (216), Tamil Nadu (4926) and Telangana (35) in 194 sessions. The countrywide covid-19 vaccination program entered into eleventh day on Tuesday. In view of Republic Day celebrations across the country, limited number of sessions in limited States were conducted today, the government said. Six adverse events after immunization were also reported in the county.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday recommended that patients who have covid-19 – both confirmed and suspected – should have access to follow-up care if they have persistent, new or changing symptoms as a part of recommendations in its revised clinical management guidelines.

Evidence was gathered on the post COVID condition, so-called ‘long COVID’, where people who have recovered from covid-19 continue to have longer-term issues like extreme fatigue, persistent cough and exercise intolerance, the WHO said.

As understanding this condition is one of WHO’s priority areas of work, in February 2021, the global public health agency will organize a series of consultations to reach consensus on a description of this condition and its subtypes, and case definitions. This scientific understanding will inform the name of the condition. The consultations will include a broad range of stakeholders, including patient groups, the WHO said.

For covid-19 patients at home, WHO suggests the use of pulse oximetry to measure oxygen levels in the blood. This needs to be coordinated with other aspects of home care, such as education for the patient and care provider and regular follow-up of the patient, the WHO said in a statement adding that for hospitalized patients, the suggestion is to use low dose anticoagulants for preventing the blood clots forming in blood vessels (thrombosis).

For hospitalized patients who are taking supplemental oxygen (including high-flow nasal oxygen) or non-invasive ventilation, WHO has suggested positioning patients on their stomachs to increase oxygen flow (awake prone positioning).

The guidelines also include recommendations on the use of care bundles to systematize care provision for covid-19 patients, as well as a recommendation to favour clinical judgement over models in making decisions for the patient’s care.

The recommendations were made by an independent panel of experts, the Guideline Development Group, on the basis of detailed rapid reviews of all available evidence. The burden of covid-19 continues to increase at a slow pace. At least 9,102 daily new cases were added to the national tally in the last 24 hours after 237 days. The daily new cases were 9,304 on 4th June, 2020.

The country has recorded 117 fatalities in the last 24 hours after more than 8 months. India’s active case count as on Tuesday was 1,77,266 which is 1.66% of the total cases. 81.76% of the new cases are concentrated in 8 States and UTs. Kerala reported the maximum daily new cases numbering 3,361 in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra recorded 1,842 new cases while Tamil Nadu reported 540 new cases yesterday, according to the union health ministry. Five States/UTs account for 63.25% of the 117 case fatalities reported in the past 24 hours. Maharashtra reported 30 deaths. Kerala and Chhattisgarh follow with 17 and 13 new deaths, respectively, the government said.

The total number of covid-19 cases mounted to 1,06,82,909 and the total toll climbed to 1,54,870 on Tuesday. -Live Mint