The Government’s 75-day drive to provide free precaution doses of Covid-19 vaccines ended on Friday with 15.92 crore such doses administered during the period.A commemoration of India’s 75 years of Independence, the drive started mid-July. Before it began, only 8 per cent of adults in the country had received the third vaccine dose. At the end of the drive, that number stands at 27 per cent. Three-fourths of India’s adult population is yet to receive the third dose.During the 75-day period, more than 13.01 lakh vaccination camps organised in the country, including 4,451 organised on the routes of religious yatras, according to data provided by the Health Ministry. Most of the camps — 11.03 lakh — were organised at private and government workplaces.Ever since India started administering the third dose in January this year, it has remained free for those above 60 years of age. It was also available for free to all healthcare and frontline workers. From April, the government has allowed the third dose to be administered to those in the 18-59 age group at private vaccination centres upon payment.Experts say that the reduced fear of a Covid-19 infection, as well as instances of infection — even if mostly mild — despite vaccination have led to low demand for the third vaccine dose. Also lowering demand is the fact that a precaution dose certificate is not mandatory for travel or entry into many places that has required double-vaccination proof.Last week, The Indian Express reported that the coverage of the third dose across states was varied. It ranges from 92.1 per cent coverage in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to 6.11 per cent in Meghalaya.With almost the entire population of the country having received the first dose of the vaccine, the coverage of precaution doses in the states has been calculated considering the number of first dose given to adults to be the total eligible adult population.In Delhi, the only state to provide free precaution dose to all adults even before the Centre’s 75-day drive, the precaution dose coverage stood at 19.6 per cent — behind bigger states such as Odisha (38 per cent), Gujarat (37.7 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (28 per cent), Bihar (23.4 per cent), West Bengal (22.98 per cent), and Madhya Pradesh (24.4 per cent).The coverage of precaution doses in states like Maharashtra and Kerala, which have been dealing with a consistently high number of Covid-19 cases throughout the pandemic, was among the lowest at 10.7 per cent and 11.09 per cent, respectively.
DESPITE A MARKED increase in the number of Covid-19 precaution doses administered after the government started offering the vaccine free to all adults beginning July 15, just over a fifth of the eligible population in the country has taken it. The 75-day drive for those eligible in the 18-59 years age group ends coming Friday (September 30).So far, only 22.24 per cent of the adult population in the country has received the third precaution dose, with the coverage among those above 60 years more than double that of those in the 18-59 years bracket.While only 17.58 per cent of 77 crore persons in the 18-59 years group have received the third dose, it is much higher in percentage terms – 48.5 per cent – in the 60-plus age group which has 13.7 crore persons, according to data from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Till mid-July i.e. before the start of the free vaccination drive for adults, only 8 per cent of those in the 18-59 years group and 27 per cent of those over 60 years, had taken the precaution dose.Since the free drive commenced, 14.6 crore precaution doses have been administered; of this, 12.7 crore were between 18 years and 59 years, according to the data. So far, India has administered a total of 20.2 crore precaution doses.Explaining the possible reasons for the low precautionary dose numbers, Dr Suneela Garg, Professor of Community Medicine at Maulana Azad Medical College and a member of the Lancet Commission on Covid-19 in India, said: “You see the number of cases and the severity of the infection has gone down, so vaccination is no longer a priority for people. We always see an increase in vaccination when cases increase. Another reason for the hesitancy is people see that even those who have taken both the doses are getting the infection. To reduce this, we will have to look at newer versions of the vaccines that are better able to protect against infections caused by the current variants in circulation.”NOT many people are queueing up for the third precaution dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. There are many reasons for this, the primary being low number of cases and less severity. To reduce hesitancy, a sharper awareness campaign will help, as also introduction of new effective vaccines against the existing virus variants.A senior official involved in Delhi’s vaccination drive said, “With people needing only primary vaccination certificates for entry to various places or travel, they do not feel the need for getting the precaution dose.”Ever since India started administering the third dose in January this year, it has remained free for those over 60 years – they are at a higher risk of severe disease and death. It was also available free to all healthcare and frontline workers, who are at an increased risk of being exposed to the infection. The government allowed the use of precaution doses in the 18-59 years group at private vaccination centres upon payment in April.During the free vaccination drive, states were asked to make an “ambitious” push by organising camps in big office complexes, industrial establishments, railway stations, inter-state bus stations, and schools and colleges. The announcement for the free drive came days after the Union MoH&FW reduced the duration between the second and precaution doses to six months from nine months. Through its door-to-door ‘Har Ghar Dastak 2.0’ campaign too, the government urged people to take the precaution dose in June-July.While the national coverage of precaution dose stood at 21.54 per cent, the performance of states has been varied –from 91.9 per cent coverage in Andaman and Nicobar Islands to 6 per cent in Meghalaya.With almost the entire population of the country having received the first dose of the vaccine, the coverage of precaution dose in the states has been calculated considering the number of first doses given in adults to be the total eligible adult population. Besides Andaman, the states with the best precaution dose coverage were Ladakh (52.38 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (41.13 per cent), Pudducherry (39.73 per cent), and Sikkim (37.48 per cent).After Meghalaya, the states with the lowest coverage were Jharkhand (7.14 per cent), Nagaland (7.41 per cent), Punjab (7.75 per cent), and Haryana (8.59 per cent), according to data from the MoH&FW.In Delhi, the only state to provide free precaution dose to all adults even before the Centre’s 75-day drive, the precaution dose coverage stood at 19.22 per cent — behind bigger states such as Gujarat (36.84 per cent), Odisha (35.93 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (25.57 per cent), Bihar (22.82 per cent), West Bengal (22.78 per cent), and Madhya Pradesh (22.67 per cent).Newsletter | Click to get the day’s best explainers in your inboxThe coverage of precaution doses in states like Maharashtra and Kerala, which have been dealing with a consistently high number of Covid-19 cases through the pandemic, was among the lowest at 10.63 per cent and 11.03 per cent, respectively.“This is to be expected; the states are the ones that implement the programme. The vaccines are available aplenty, so that cannot be the reason for low coverage. There is a need for aggressive awareness campaigns,” said Dr Garg. People over 60, those with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, must get the precaution dose, she said.
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Thursday told the Bombay high court that it will publish Dr B R Ambedkar's thesis which is with a library in London. Justices Prasanna Varale and Nitin Borkar heard a suo motu PIL that was converted in December 2021 out of a news report regarding the state government halting its project to publish Ambedkar's speeches and writings. Government pleader Poornima Kantharia submitted the minutes of the September 20 meeting chaired by higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil. It was noted in the minutes that in November 2021, the committee set up for preservation of Ambedkar's works had received sanction from the Senate House Library of the University of London to publish the thesis titled 'The Evolution of Provincial Finance in British India: A Study in the Provincial Decentralisation of Imperial Finance'. The panel had decided to publish it as the 23rd volume of Ambedkar's works. "We also appreciate the unanimous decision taken by the committee to publish this as volume 23," the judges said in the order. During a hearing in August, the judges had rapped the state over insufficient remuneration to the committee. The minutes said the honorarium of the member secretary had been increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000. The judges noted that no honorarium was being provided to the members. They added that if the state took a decision regarding the member secretary, it could certainly take a decision to provide honorarium to other members. They directed that the issue should be considered in the next meeting. The minutes also stated that Patil had directed the public works department to provide its guest house or any available vacant flat in the state-owned Tushar building near Churchgate to accommodate the member secretary. It also mentioned provision for his travel expenses. Advocate Swaraj Jadhav, amicus curiae, said accommodation and travel expenses should also be provided to the members who will travel from various parts of the state for meetings in Mumbai. The minutes informed that manpower and material required for research and digitisation of Ambedkar works will be outsourced. Also, a proposal was submitted to Mumbai University to provide space for the panel to work. Adjourning the hearing, the HC directed the panel to meet after 6 weeks.
The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court Thursday that it will publish Dr B R Ambedkar’s MSc thesis. The High Court was hearing a suo motu PIL regarding a project, which was halted, to publish Ambedkar’s works.The state government informed the bench that the UK Senate library had granted it permission to publish Ambedkar’s thesis ‘Decentralisation of Provincial Imperial Finance in British India’. The court appreciated the progress by the committee constituted to oversee the publication of Ambedkar’s writings and speeches.Additional Government Pleader Purnima H Kantharia for the state government submitted minutes of a September 20 meeting chaired by Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, which also consisted of the principal secretary of the department, the member secretary of the committee constituted to publish Ambedkar’s works and 10 non-government members of the panel.According to the minutes of the meeting, the honorarium to the member secretary has been increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000. The government has also decided to provide residential accommodation to the member secretary either in the MLA guest house or any other flat in Malad.Amicus curiae advocate Swaraj Jadhav told the bench that provision for accommodation and travel expenses cannot be given just to the member secretary, and the members of the panel who come to Mumbai from across the state for the meeting should also get relief.Kantharia submitted that the state will bear the expenses for members’ travel from their place of accommodation to the place of meeting and they can also avail accommodation given to the member secretary.The bench then said the decision to provide honorarium to other members should also be considered in the next meetingThe state informed the bench that sufficient manpower, along with material and other facilities required for research and digitisation of works, will be outsourced as per requirement. The court also noted that as per the minutes of meeting, a proposal will be submitted to Mumbai University to provide the panel sufficient space to do its work.The court directed the committee to conduct its next meeting as early as possible, preferably within six weeks, and adjourned the PIL.
Pune: Attempt a full-fledged comeack or not?Heena Sidhu has faced many tricky situations in her 16-year-long career, but the challenge the pistol shooter is facing these days is way more complicated.The mother of a 10-month-old girl is back to competitive shooting, and it isn’t easy.The World-Cup gold winning pistol shooter has made her way to the Mahrashtra shooting team for the National Games to be held in Gujarat and is looking forward to getting back into India team. But there is no desperation.“It is a good feeling to participate in the National Games. I represented Punjab in the last edition (2015), this time I am going to participate for Maharashtra,” said Heena after putting her daughter Reyah to sleep, at her residence here.Heena, 33, has been away from shooting for almost three years and got back to the range only in January this year. “In 2019, I thought of taking a break for a couple of months, but before the break could end, Covid pandemic began and then we decided to have a baby. The break got extended to almost three years,” she laughed.After deciding to train again, Heena participated in the trials and managed a place in the top-16 shooters for the National Games. However, things are not the same for her.“I am working at a basic level right now. Physically, a lot has changed after the delivery. I lost the muscle memory, my body doesn’t listen to me anymore, so there is some frustration. But I am trying to get back to normal, slowly. I am at a stage where I know what mistakes I am making, but I am not able to rectify them,” she said.No matter how difficult physically it is for Heena, her concerns are more mental. She is training to be in the Indian squad but is apprehensive of reaching the top.“I want to be in the team, but I am scared too. I know that once I come to the team, I will have to be there in the camps, travel without my daughter and that is a discomforting thought. Every time there is a camp, the shooter has to attend it since there is no provision of training at our base location. I understand that the idea is to train with the team, but it becomes difficult for a mother like me. I cannot take my daughter to the camp but I feel the authorities should at least consider exempting mothers and allow them to train at a range of their choice,” said Heena.The London and Rio Olympics participant, however, knows she will eventually have to face the reality as the quotas for the 2024 Paris Games will be up for grabs.“Due to the Covid situation, the Olympics cycle this time has become short. Since I have less time (to come back to the team), I will have to play all the matches to be in the team and keep my scores updated. I wouldn’t have shot in all of them if I had time. As an athlete, I feel forced to participate in the matches, but this is what it is,” she said.
PUNE: Heena Sidhu has faced many tricky situations in her 16-year-long career, but the dilemma the pistol shooter is facing these days, is beyond complicated. The mother of a 10-month-old girl is back to competitive shooting, and it isn't easy. The World-Cup gold winning pistol shooter has made her way to the shooting team for the National Games to be held in Gujarat and is looking forward to getting back into the national team, but with a little caution. "I think it is a good feeling to participate in the National Games. I represented Punjab in the last edition, this time I am going to participate for Maharashtra," Heena says. Heena has been away from shooting for almost three years and got back to the range only in January this year. "In 2019, I thought of taking a break for a couple of months, but before the break could end, Covid pandemic began and then we decided to have a baby. The break got extended to almost three years," she laughs. After coming back to train, Heena participated in the trials and managed a place in the top-16 shooters for the National Games. However, things are not the same for Heena. "I am working at a basic level right now. Physically, a lot has changed after the delivery. I lost the muscle memory, my body doesn't listen to me anymore, so there i s some frustration. But I am trying to get back to normal, slowly. I am at a stage where I know what mistakes I am making, but I am notable to rectify them," she says. No matter how difficult physically it is for Heena, her concerns are more mental in nature. It is natural that Heena is training to be in the Indian squad, but she is apprehensive of reaching to the top. "I want to be in the team, but I am scared too. I know that once I come to the team, I will have to be there in the camps, travel without my daughter and that scares me," she says.
