India Coronavirus Dispatch: 135 million jabs to be available in July

No holy dip on Ganga Dussehra in Haridwar, study finds that transplant patients need three Covid vaccine doses, and more-news relevant to India's fight against the pandemic

Over 58,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 58,419 fresh coronavirus infections on Sunday, taking the cumulative caseload to 29.8 million, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 1,576 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 386,713. The active caseload is at 729,243, while the total recoveries have surged to 28.7 million. As many as 27.6 million vaccine shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 3.8 million were given on Friday. Read more

135 million vaccine doses will be available in July

India's Covid vaccination drive will receive 135 million doses from the country's vaccine manufacturers in July, a report in The Indian Express said that cited sources familiar with the matter. The states will be informed that 75 per cent of the doses will be made available free of cost in July for advance planning, sources part of the team monitoring the Covid-19 vaccination drive told the paper. Read more

Can't pay Rs 4 lakh as compensation to kin of Covid victims: Govt to SC

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told the Supreme Court that granting Rs 4 lakh as compensation to the families of those who succumbed to Covid would not be feasible as “resources of governments have limits”, a report in The Indian Express said. The ministry said the entire State Disaster Relief Fund would deplete which in turn would affect the pandemic response on other aspects and might end up doing more damage than good. “Utilisation of scarce resources for giving ex-gratia, may have unfortunate consequences of affecting the pandemic response and health expenditure in other aspects and hence cause more damage than good,” the affidavit read. Read more

No holy dip on Ganga Dussehra in Haridwar

The celebrations for the Ganga Dussehra festival, where devotees take a dip in the Ganga river, have been cancelled in Haridwar to contain the spread of Covid, a report in the Hindustan Times said. The district borders will be sealed on Sunday and devotees coming from other states will not be allowed. "Legal action will be taken against those who would not follow the guidelines issued for Covid-19 under the Disaster Management Act," a top police official said. Read more

Transplant patients need three Covid vaccine doses, finds study

An international study on 30 transplant patients who received a third booster shot leading to antibody response in eight of them has sparked a conversation among transplant doctors, a report in Midday said. While the general population has been able to get an antibody response after two doses, doctors treating transplant patients have been worried as most of their patients have shown low or no antibody response. Doctors feel that booster doses should be considered for transplant patients if they have not mounted an immunological response. The medical fraternity treating transplant patients has called for more research and clinical trials. Read more