The Union Health Ministry said that the death rate due to COVID-19/ Omicron is less due to the higher reach of vaccination. During a routine briefing, the Health Ministry officials said that Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh are among the ‘states of concern’ in terms of rising cases of COVID-19.

Amid an ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, DG ICMR, Dr Balram Bhargava stressed that vaccines have remained beneficial in India as deaths due to COVID-19 have considerably reduced due to vaccinations. “In this third surge of COVID19, we are currently not witnessing severe illness and deaths due to high vaccination uptake,” he said.

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that central teams have been sent to the ‘states of concern’ and the situation is being constantly monitored by the government.

Bhushan further added that as of January 20, 2022, there are 3,17,532 new cases, 380 deaths, and 19,24,051 active cases of COVID-19 in the country. He added that the proportion of fully vaccinated people in India stands at 72 per cent, while 52 per cent of children in the 15-18 age group in the country have been vaccinated so far.

On the decision to allow vaccination for children below 15

Elaborating upon the plans to allow vaccination for children below 15 years of age, the Health Ministry officials said that the decision to expand vaccination coverage to individuals below 15 years of age will be taken on the basis of scientific evidence.

Commenting on the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) recommendation for market approval for Covaxin and Covishield, Balram Bhargava said that the final decision by the national regulator is yet to take place.