The Union Health Ministry has accepted the recommendations of National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 or NEGVAC regarding deferment of vaccination by three months after recovery from COVID-19.

The Ministry said, the individuals having lab test proven COVID-19 illness should defer COVID-19 vaccination by three months after recovery.

Besides, the COVID-19 patients who have been given anti-SARS-2 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma in that case the COVID-19 vaccination should be deferred by three months from the date of discharge from the hospital.

It was also recommended that if an individual is infected with COVID after the 1st dose then the 2nd dose should also be deferred by three months after clinical recovery from the illness.

Union Health Ministry has been providing advance information on availability of COVID vaccine doses to be supplied to the States and UTs.

It has written to the States and UTs on allocation of COVID vaccine doses during May and during first fortnight of June from the Government channel which is available free of cost.

It also provided information about availability of vaccine doses that can be procured directly by States and Private Hospitals during May and June.

This advance visibility will enable better and more effective planning by the States.

A total of 5 crore 86 lakh and 29 thousand doses is being provided free of cost by Centre to States from 1st of May to 15th of June.

In addition, a total of 4 crore, 87 lakh and 55 thousand doses will also be available till end of June for direct procurement by States and UTs.

The States and UTs have been advised to prepare a district-wise, COVID Vaccination Centre (CVC)-wise plan for administration of vaccines.

Both States Governments and Private CVCs must publish their vaccination calendar on CoWIN digital platform in advance.

They should desist from publishing single day vaccination calendar. It must be ensured that there is no overcrowding at the CVCs and process of booking appointments on CoWIN is hassle-free.

India has administered over 18 crore 70 lakh Covid vaccine doses to the beneficiaries so far.
 
The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has said that over 11 lakh 66 thousand vaccine doses were administered to the beneficiaries in the last 24 hours.
 
India had launched the world’s largest Vaccination Drive on 16th January this year. 

Union Government on Wednesday decided to hike the DAP subsidy by 140 per cent to provide the fertilizer to farmers at old rate despite international price rise.
 
The subsidy has been increased from Rs. 500 per bag to Rs. 1,200 per bag.
 
Now, despite the rise in international market prices, it will continue to available at the older price of Rs. 1,200 per bag.
 
A decision in this regard was taken during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of fertilizer prices.
 
Mr Modi stressed that farmers should get fertilizers at old rates despite the international rise in prices.
 
He remarked that his government is committed to the welfare of farmers and will take all efforts to ensure that farmers do not have to face the brunt of price-rise.
 
AIR correspondent reports, recently, the international prices of phosphoric acid, ammonia and others used in DAP have gone up by 60 to 70 per cent.
 
So, the actual price of a DAP bag is currently Rs. 2,400 which could be sold by Fertilizer companies at Rs. 1,900 after considering  earlier subsidy of Rs. 500.
 
With today’s decision, the farmers will continue to get a DAP bag for Rs.  1,200.
 
The Central Government spends about Rs. 80 thousand crore on subsidies for chemical fertilizers every year.
 
With the increase in subsidy in DAP, Government of India will spend an additional Rs. 14,775 crore as subsidy in Kharif season.
 
This is the second major decision in the farmers’ interest in a week, after directly transferring Rs. 20, 667 crore in Farmers’ account under PM-KISAN.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a Rs. 1000 crore relief package for the cyclone hit areas of Gujarat.

According to sources, this package has been given for the rehabilitation work in the areas devastated by the extremely severe cyclonic storm.

According to sources, the Centre will also send inter-Ministerial team to assess the loss due to cyclonic storm.

Prime Minister Modi also announced ex-gratia cash compensation of Rs. 2 lakh each to the next of the kin of those who lost their lives due to Cyclone Tauktae in all the affected States.

In a tweet message, Mr. Modi said that Rs. 50,000 would be given to injured persons affected by cyclonic storm.

Mr. Modi said, the Central government is in full solidarity with those affected due to the natural calamity and will provide them all possible support.

Mr. Modi also reviewed the situation caused by Cyclone Tauktae during a meeting in Ahmedabad.

He also took stock of the evacuation efforts and the ongoing relief work for those affected.

He said that the Centre will help in rebuilding damaged infrastructure. He said that the Central Government is working closely with all the States affected by the cyclone.

TheGovernment has said that more than 20 crore 78 lakh COVID vaccine doses have been provided so far to States and Union Territories. Union Health Ministry said, as part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the government has been supporting the States and Union Territories by providing them COVID Vaccines free of cost.
 
The Ministry said, more than one crore 94 lakh COVID Vaccine doses are still available with the States and Union Territories to be administered. It said, one lakh vaccine doses are in the pipeline and will be received by the States and Union Territories within the next three days.
 
In the second quarter of this month, from 18th to 31st of May, one crore 95 lakh doses will be made available free of cost by the Union Government. The Ministry said, this information has already been shared with States and Union Territories. In addition, more than 72 lakh doses will be available for direct procurement by the States and Union Territories.

India has administered over 18 crore 58 lakh Covid vaccine doses to the beneficiaries so far. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has said that over 13 lakh 12 thousand vaccine doses were administered to the beneficiaries in the last 24 hours.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described aggressive testing, marking local containment zones and dissemination of complete and correct information to the public as weapons against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister interacted with field officials from various States and districts yesterday to converse about their experience in handling the pandemic. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Modi termed the district officials as field commanders and said they have ensured effective local containment strategies to mitigate the effect of the pandemic.

The Prime Minister said the work of field officers which include building confidence among front line workers and also acting against hoarders of drugs and medical equipment is crucial in the fight against the pandemic.

The Prime Minister said, amidst rising cases and challenges of health infrastructure in rural areas, the district officials are entrusted with greater responsibility of reaching out to the people.. He informed that the task of setting up of Oxygen plants is being actively completed in the districts using the funds allocated from PM-CARES. The Prime Minister also called for setting up district monitoring cells in this regard for effectively bridging the gap between the supply and usage.  

Mr. Modi said, the country has undertaken the largest vaccination drive in the world. He asserted that proper usage of vaccines with minimal wastage will ensure effective and quick recovery of the nation from the pandemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat and Diu today to personally review the situation and damage due to Cyclone Tauktae. He will also hold a review meeting in Ahmedabad.
 
Mr. Modi will leave Delhi at around 9:30 am in the morning. He will also conduct an aerial survey of cyclone affected areas including Bhavnagar, Una, Diu, Jafarabad and Mahuva.

India has administered more than 18 crore 44 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine in the country so far. These include over 96 lakh 58 thousand Healthcare Workers who have taken the 1st dose and more than 66 lakh 52 thousand Health care workers who have taken the 2nd dose.

Over one crore 44 lakh Frontline Workers have taken the 1st dose and more than 82 lakh front line workers have taken the 2nd dose. The Ministry said, more than five crore 46 lakh people above 60 years have taken the 1st dose and more than one crore 79 lakh citizens have taken the 2nd dose.
 
Health Ministry said that more than 14 lakh 79 thousand beneficiaries were inoculated with Covid-19 vaccine doses yesterday. Out of which more than 12 lakh 42 thousand beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and more than two lakh 36 thousand beneficiaries received 2nd dose.

The Ministry said, more than six lakh 63 thousand beneficiaries of the age group 18 to 44 years received their first dose of COVID vaccine yesterday and cumulatively over 59 lakh 32 thousand across 36 States and Union Territories. The Liberalised and Accelerated Phase-3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccination has come into force from 1st of this month.

Centre has dropped plasma therapy from Covid treatment protocol. Covid National Task Force yesterday released new clinical guidelines for management of mild, moderate and severe Covid cases. Plasma therapy does not find a mention under the new guidelines. The decision came on the basis of recommendations of experts from AIIMS, ICMR-COVID-19 National Task Force, and Joint Monitoring Group of Union Health Ministry.
 
Members of the ICMR-National Task Force for COVID-19 met on Friday to deliberate upon the effectiveness of plasma therapy which gained momentum last year just during the onset of the pandemic. However, in the recent meeting, all members of the task force were in favour of removing the use of convalescent plasma from the Clinical Guidance for Management of Adult COVID-19 patients citing its ineffectiveness and inappropriate use in several cases. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that they will issue an advisory on the matter soon.
 
The plasma therapy, which includes transfusion of COVID-19 antibodies from the blood of a recovered patient to the one being treated, has not been found effective in reducing the progression to severe disease nor has a decrease in the fatality rate been observed. The development comes just days after a group of medical practitioners wrote Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan cautioning against the ‘irrational and non-scientific use’ of convalescent plasma for COVID-19. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with field officials from states and districts today to converse about their experience in handling the COVID -19 pandemic. Many of these districts have seen a huge surge in cases and widespread infection.
 
Through their interaction with the Prime Minister, the officials will share some best practices in addition to suggestions and recommendations for continuing country’s ongoing battle against COVID-19, especially in semi-urban and rural areas. Officials from Karnataka, Bihar, Assam, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, MP, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi will take part in the meeting.
 
The battle against COVID-19 across various States and Districts is being led at the cutting edge by field level officials. Many of them have shown great initiative and come out with imaginative solutions. A better appreciation of such initiatives will help towards developing effective response plan, targeted strategy implementation and support necessary policy interventions.

Extremely severe cyclonic storm Tauktae has weakened into a ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ after hitting Gujarat coast. Tauktae has now crossed the Gujarat coast and lies overland. India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, Tauktae with winds gusting up to 185 km per hour began making landfall on the Gujarat coast last night.
 
Apart from Gujarat, the Tauktae also forced governments in coastal areas of Maharashtra, Kerala and Goa to issue s to its citizens and concerned authorities. Dadar and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu have also been put on high . Armed forces and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been carrying out evacuation operations.
 
Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Ministers of Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra assuring the Centre’s assistance in rescue operations and other relief measures.
 
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held a meeting with officials of the coastal districts of Valsad and Gir Somnath at the State Control Room in Gandhinagar.
 
Towns and villages plunged into darkness due to power outages and several trees and electric poles were uprooted in areas near Gujarat’s coast. Authorities snapped power supply in many areas of the worst affected coastal districts of Gir Somnath, Amreli, Junagadh, and Bhavnagar as a precautionary measure.
 
Electric supply to over 23 lakh consumers in western Maharashtra was impacted because of the Tauktae cyclonic storm. Supply to over 56 per cent of the consumers in Palghar, Thane, Kolhapur, Pune, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri and Raigad districts has been restored. Gusty winds reaching the speed of 114 kmph and heavy showers lashed Mumbai and its neighbouring areas yesterday, uprooting trees and disrupting local train services in the metropolis.
 
 
 AIR Ahmedabad correspondent reports that coastal areas of Gir Somnath, Bhavnagar and Amreli districts are receiving heavy rainfall with high velocity of wind.
   
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani closely monitored the entire process of landfall from the state emergency operation center in Gandhinagar. He also spoke to the concerned district collectors and asked them to ensure all possible steps to save the human lives.
 
A widespread power outage was reported from Rajula and Jafrabad taluka of Amreli district and Kodinar and Una in Gir Somnath district. The power supply has been disrupted in the coastal districts of Saurashtra due to high-velocity winds and rain. Vehicular traffic has also come to a halt due to uprooted trees falling on highways.
 
The maximum impact of the cyclonic storm was witnessed in Porbandar, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts of Saurashtra. Earlier, more than 2 lakh persons had been evacuated and shifted to the safer places in the coastal districts of Gujarat. About 50 teams of NDRF are engaged in rescue and relief works in the coastal areas of Gujarat.

India has crossed a major landmark by administering more than 18 crore doses of COVID19 vaccine in the country so far. These include over 96 lakh 27 thousand Healthcare Workers who have taken the first dose and more than 66 lakh Health care workers who have taken the second dose, over one crore 43 lakh Frontline Workers have taken the first dose and more than 81 lakh front line workers have taken the second dose.

The Union Health Ministry said, over 10 lakh 79 thousand beneficiaries were inoculated with Covid-19 vaccine doses till 8 PM yesterday. Out of this, more than six lakh 16 thousand beneficiaries were vaccinated for the first dose and more than four lakh 62 thousand beneficiaries received second dose of the vaccine.

The Ministry said, more than three lakh 25 thousand beneficiaries in the age group of 18 to 44 years received their first dose of COVID vaccine yesterday. Cumulatively, over 42 lakh 55 thousand in this age group have been administered the first dose across the country.

The Liberalised and Accelerated Phase-3 Strategy of Covid-19 Vaccination came into force from 1st of this month.