COVID-19: India's 72 pc adults fully vaccinated, 52 pc in 15-18 age group jabbed with 1st dose

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Thursday, "Till now, 52 per cent children in the 15-18 age group in the country vaccinated and a proportion of fully vaccinated people is 72 per cent against COVID-19."

New Delhi: The Central government on Thursday informed that 72 per cent of India's adult population is fully vaccinated whereas around 52 per cent of children in the 15-18 years old age group have been inoculated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Addressing a press conference here today, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "Till now, 52 per cent children in the 15-18 age group in the country vaccinated and a proportion of fully vaccinated people is 72 per cent against COVID-19."

He also stated that the country has reported 3,17,532 new COVID-19 cases and 380 deaths in the past 24 hours. With this, the active caseload of India has gone up to 19,24,051, the health secretary said. In India, Bhushan informed that Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Delhi and Rajasthan are among the top ten states in terms of active cases.

Following these observations of COVID-19 infection in these states, he said that Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh are among the "States of Concern".

"We have sent Central health teams to these States and are continuously reviewing the situation," he added. Comparing the third surge of COVID-19 with the last surge, Bhushan said, "In the last surge of COVID-19, on 30 April 2021, there were 3,86,452 new cases, 3,059 deaths, and over 31 lakh active cases reported in India."

Speaking about an alarming rise in coronavirus infection cases, the Union Health Secretary asserted that Europe has been contributing around 38 per cent of the total COVID-19 positive cases across the country.

"Asia is showing a sharp surge in global contribution from 7.9 per cent to approximately 18.4 per cent in four weeks, out of which Europe has been contributing around 38 per cent. A sharp surge is also seen in COVID19 cases in India," Bhushan added.

ANI