India should be able to roll out its COVID-19 vaccination programme in the “near future” as its preparation is ready and robust, NITI Aayog member (health) V.K. Paul said in an exclusive interview with The Hindu. Covaxin would work even with mutations, that we are seeing in the virus, he added.
Meanwhile, several experts have raised concern over the “hasty approval” granted to the COVID-19 vaccines despite the lack of adequate efficacy data.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are live updates:
Cricket
Team India, support staff negative in latest COVID-19 tests, says BCCI
The Indian cricket team and its support staff have returned negative in the latest COVID-19 tests conducted in Melbourne ahead of the third Test against Australia in Sydney, the BCCI said on Monday.
The match is due to start on January 7.
The statement comes a couple of days after five Indian players — vice-captain Rohit Sharma, opener Shubman Gill, stumper Rishabh Pant, pacer Navdeep Saini and batsman Prithvi Shaw — were placed in isolation when a video of them at an indoor restaurant was posted by a fan on Twitter.
Punjab
Punjab Health Minister asks Centre to provide COVID-19 vaccine for free
Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh on Sunday said the Central government should provide COVID-19 vaccine free of cost to Punjab within a stipulated time.
Mr. Sidhu said Punjab has taken stringent measures from time to time to control the pandemic and now, the BJP-led government at the Centre should not backtrack from its duty to supply the vaccine.
“So far, about 5,364 COVID-19 related deaths have taken place in the State, which is about 178 deaths per million. In comparison to Delhi, where a total of 10,577 COVID-19-related deaths have taken place, and with their deaths per million rate relatively high at 528, we are in a way better position than other States. Punjab has a recovery rate of 95% and active cases are declining day by day,” said Mr. Sidhu while addressing a press conference here.
Delhi
Delhi Police completes COVID vaccination dry run for over 80,000 personnel
The Delhi Police has completed the second dry run to check the best way to vaccinate around 87,000 personnel against COVID-19, a senior officer said on Sunday. The entire process will be done in three phases.
Muktesh Chander, the Special Commissioner of Police and nodal officer for the COVID-19 action plan, on December 26 passed an order to Delhi Police to update the cellphone number in the Personal Information System (PIS) on IntraDP system. All the policemen were instructed to update their mobile numbers by January 3, 2021. All district and unit heads were also instructed to ensure completion of the exercise in time so that no one is left out of the vaccination programme.
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