Rajesh Bhushan | Business Upturn

Cobrevax available after 6 months says Health Secretary

Dipankar Ray — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 18:50:41 +0000

Corbevax, the new vaccine will be available as a precaution dose after the proper completion of waiting period for 6 months or 26 weeks from the time of administration of the second dose of either Covaxin or Covieshield for the vaccination of people above the age of 18 years.

The Center’s most recent action is significant because it marks the first time a booster dose that differs from the one used for initial vaccination against Covid-19 has been permitted in the nation amid escalating Covid-19 instances in numerous states.

The immunisation programme now uses Corbevax, India’s first RBD protein subunit vaccine that was created locally, to immunise children between the ages of 12 and 14.

In its July 20 meeting, the COVID-19 Working Group (CWG) reviewed data from the double-blind randomised phase-3 clinical study that assessed the immunogenicity and safety of a booster dose of the Corbevax vaccine when given to COVID-19-negative adult volunteers between the ages of 18 and 80 who had previously received two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin.

Corbevax will be available as precaution dose after completion of 6 months or 26 weeks from the date of administration of the second dose of either Covaxin or Covishield vaccines for population above 18 years: Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan pic.twitter.com/aMbLDM1cyU

— ANI (@ANI) August 10, 2022

66% of the 18+ population have received COVID vaccines: Health Ministry

News Desk — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 13:21:53 +0000

A quarter of the adult population has received both doses of vaccination. 23% of the 18 plus population received both doses of COVID-19 vaccines and 66% has received at least one dose of vaccine.

Union Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan stated that “23% of the 18 plus population has received both doses of COVID vaccines and 66% of the 18 plus population has received at least one dose of vaccines this is the result of unstoppable hard work of some States.”

Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman Nicobar Islands and Sikkim are the six state and union territories where 100% of the population have received their first dose of vaccine.

Dr VK Paul, Member- health NITI Aayog stated that “almost a quarter of the adult population have received both doses, it’s an important milestone” and informed that an advisory has been issued to make arrangements for ‘vaccinations at home’ for those who have disabilities or are differently challenged, in line with COVID-19 SOPs.

According to the government, Kerala is the only state with over 1 lakh active cases and have reported 31,000 new cases in the last 24 hours and most of these cases have been reported from Kerala and Maharashtra.

Next three weeks are crucial for India in containing COVID-19: Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan

Shreejit Shelar — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 15:58:35 +0000

India is currently facing the brunt of the rising Covid-19 cases and the authorities are in arms to curb the spread of the deadly virus. However, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday, pointed out that the next three weeks are crucial with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic situation in the country.

“Centre working closely with States and UTs on public health measures to contain Covid-19. Next three weeks crucial! At a meeting held today, UTs advised augmenting hospital infrastructure, ramping up testing, creating containment zones and strictly enforcing Covid appropriate behaviour,” Vardhan said, as quoted by the news agency ANI.

Centre working closely with States & UTs on public health measures to contain #COVID19
Next 3 weeks crucial!

At a meeting held today, UTs advised to;
◽️Augment hospital Infra
◽️Ramp up testing
◽️Create containment zones
◽️Strictly enforce COVID Appropriate Behaviour@PMOIndia

— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) April 20, 2021

Earlier in the day, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan along with Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla chaired a high-level meeting to review and discuss the Covid-19 status, management and response strategy, reported news agency ANI.

The meeting was held via video conferencing and attended by Dr V K Paul, member (health) of NITI Aayog, Dr Balram Bhargava, secretary of DHR and DG ICMR, the chief secretaries and DGPs of all the union territories of India.

During the meeting on Tuesday, the home secretary emphasized the steep growth in coronavirus infections across the country. According to the ANI report, he has also advised the UTs to increase RT-PCR testing along with the use of RAT (Rapid Antigen Test) for screening in clusters.

Several states in India have witnessed strict regulations being imposed by their respective authorities. Now, the recent report also suggests that the UTs have shared the efforts they are undertaking for containment and management of the cases.

In an attempt to escape the restrictions being levied across the states, many people have reportedly travelled to tourists destinations. Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep have reportedly stated that the rise in cases was due to a large number of inbound travellers.

Meanwhile, the Chandigarh administration has informed about door-to-door counselling for increasing vaccination. It said that 905 of the patients in the UT are in home isolation and being monitored by mobile teams, reported news agency ANI.

The surging Covid-19 cases have lead to the increased demand for medical supplies. Over the weekend, Chief Ministers of Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, amongst others highlighted the shortage of health care in their respective states and urged the centre to provide the essential medical supplies.

In the meeting held on Tuesday, the Delhi administration discussed the shortage of beds and the efforts to augment this through the central government’s infrastructure and support from DRDO’s newly operationalised Covid Hospital.

Dr V K Paul pointed out the criticality of the next three weeks for Covid response measures. The UT administrators were advised to plan in advance for three weeks.

Meanwhile, India has reported 2.59 lakh new coronavirus cases and 1,761 deaths in the last 24 hours, stated that the latest data released by the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday.

The total number of cases has spiked to 1.53 crore while the death toll went up to 1.80 lakh while the active number of cases in the country stands at 20.31 lakh.

In the last 24 hours, 1.54 lakh recovered from the infection. With this, the total recoveries reached 1.31 crore. Daily covid cases in India had jumped a record 2.73 lakh on Monday.

The upward going trend of COVID is a cause of worry: Union Health Secretary

Meemansa Shekhawat — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 13:36:08 +0000

In a press conference, on Monday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, “We have 89.51% people who have been cured, 1.25% deaths, and 9.24% active cases. If we look at new cases, we will find that the previous highest surge has already been crossed and the trend is going upward. That is a cause for worry.”

We have 89.51% people who have been cured, 1.25% deaths & 9.24% active cases. If we look at new cases, we will find that the previous highest surge has already been crossed and the trend is going upward. That is a cause for worry: Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/ZE60kSGXa2

— ANI (@ANI) April 13, 2021

Additionally, Secretary Bhushan has mentioned that the daily deaths are also showing an increase in trend. He says, “However, the previous surge’s highest point was 1,114 and presently we have reported 879 deaths.”

Further, he adds, “Weekly positivity in the case of Chhattisgarh is increasing from one and a half percent; it has increased to 27.9% almost 28%. So, this is another cause of concern.”

Weekly positivity in case of Chattisgarh is increasing from one and a half percent, it has increased to 27.9% almost 28%. So, this is another cause for concern: Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan pic.twitter.com/vgDR65G2Uc

— ANI (@ANI) April 13, 2021

Again, talking of the surge in Maharashtra, he says, “In Maharashtra, you will find that average daily cases, week on week, have grown significantly and reached a level of 57,000 plus. Tests/million growing but not keeping pace with the growth of average daily cases. If you look at the share of RT-PCR tests; it’s progressively coming down,” as quoted by ANI.

In Maharashtra you'll find that average daily cases, week on week, have grown significantly&reached a level of 57,000 plus. Tests/mn growing but not keeping pace with growth of avg daily cases. If you look at share of RT-PCR tests, it's progressively coming down:Union Health Secy pic.twitter.com/JPnfnM1RVM

— ANI (@ANI) April 13, 2021

Well, the Health Ministry has made it clear that the second wave of the Coronavirus is quite more detrimental than that of the last year. Also, the cases are rising at a swift pace.

The country has reported 1, 61,736 cases plus 879 deaths in the last 24 hours. The number of active Covid cases stands at 12, 64, 698.

Meanwhile, till 8 am today, more than 10.85 crore doses of vaccine have been administered while over 40 lacks doses were administered, according to Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.

97% people satisfied with COVID-19 immunisation process: Govt survey

Devanshu Singla — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 05:20:42 +0000

The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said that more than 97 per cent of 7.75 lakh people surveyed after receiving anti-coronavirus vaccine shots have been satisfied with the immunisation process.

The government is taking feedback through its mobile app Co-WIN since January 17 and has got responses from 7.75 lakh people, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said a press conference.

The countrywide vaccination drive against COVID-19 was launched on January 16 with over three crore healthcare and frontline workers prioritised to get the jabs initially.

Rajesh Bhushan said, “On January 17, we started taking feedback on Co-WIN application through the Rapid Assessment System (RAS) from those users who have been vaccinated.”

“Ninety-seven per cent of people are satisfied with the overall vaccination experience. This data is based on feedback from 7.75 lakh people,” he said.

Through the system, beneficiaries were asked four questions in a personalised message, a day after COVID-19 vaccine was administered to them, Bhushan said.

Of the total feedback received, 97.35 per cent expressed satisfaction with the overall process of vaccination and 97.31 confirmed that proper social distancing was maintained at immunisation sites, Bhushan said.

He said 98.37 per cent confirmed that they were informed about the process of vaccination and that it was given properly, 88.76 per cent said they were informed about adverse event following immunisation and 97.19 per cent confirmed that they were asked to wait for 30 minutes for monitoring after being vaccinated.