India Coronavirus Dispatch: 2 in 5 districts yet to get RT-PCR testing lab

No clarity on the launch of single-dose J&J vaccine, over 60% doses given to rural population in last 3 weeks, and more-news relevant to India's fight against the pandemic

Over 28,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 28,204 fresh coronavirus infections on Tuesday, taking the cumulative caseload to 31.9 million, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 373 more deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 428,682. The active caseload is at 388,508, while the total recoveries have surged to 31.1 million. As many as 514 million vaccine shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 5.4 million were given on Monday. Read more

Over 40% districts still don’t have a single RT-PCR lab for testing

Data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) shows two in five districts still do not have a laboratory to carry out the RT-PCR test that is considered the gold standard for Covid detection, a report in the Scroll said. There is no government-run RT-PCR lab in 342 of India’s 742 districts (46%), while 306 districts (41.2%) lack both government and private labs. The North East has the largest gaps in testing infrastructure. Of 120 districts across eight states in the region, 99 districts (82.5%) do not have a single RT-PCR lab, the report said. Read more

Tougher than smallpox, but more feasible to eradicate than polio: study

A study published in the journal BMJ Global Health found the possibility of eradicating Covid is relatively more feasible than it was for polio, a report in ThePrint said. The scientists compared three infections — smallpox, polio and Covid — based on a mix of technical, sociopolitical, and economic factors. The main challenge that needs to be addressed, they say, is securing high vaccine coverage, and quick response as immune-escape variants evolve. There is a global will to tackle the infection which has generated “unprecedented global interest in disease control and massive investment in vaccination against the pandemic,” the public health experts said, according to the report. Read more

No clarity on launch of single-dose J&J vaccine in India 

There is no clarity on the timeline for the launch of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid vaccine—which has already received emergency-use approval in India—as indemnity remains an open issue, a report in ThePrint said. “We are in talks with the company on the question of indemnity. They are amenable to talks and so are we. It is not for us to say whether they are willing to come in without indemnity. We are hopeful of arriving at a common ground, ” a senior health ministry official told ThePrint. Read more

Over 60% doses given to rural population in last 3 weeks

Official data shows more than six out of 10 shots in the last three weeks were administered in rural vaccination centres, marking a shift in the national Covid immunisation strategy, a report in The Indian Express said. In contrast, between May 1 (when the entire adult population was made eligible for vaccination) and June 23, only 51 per cent of the total doses were administered in rural India, the Centre had said in an affidavit to the Supreme Court on June 26, the report said. Read more