Covid India LIVE Updates: Can you register for vaccination without Aadhaar card? FAQs on Co-WIN answered

India made the "incorrect assumption" that it was finished with the Covid-19 pandemic and opened up prematurely that has left the country in such "dire straits", America's top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has told senators.India has been severely affected by the unprecedented second wave of the coronavirus and hospitals in several states are reeling under the shortage of health workers, vaccines, oxygen, drugs and beds.

"The reason that India is in such dire straits now is that they had an original surge and made the incorrect assumption that they were finished with it, and what happened, they opened up prematurely and wind up having a surge right now that we're all very well aware of is extremely devastating,” Fauci told the US Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pensions Committee during a hearing on Tuesday on the Covid-19 Response.

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The government on Wednesday approved the procurement of 1,50,000 units of 'Oxycare' system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to help in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Oxycare is an oxygen supply system based on SpO2 (oxygen saturation) level. The DRDO has already transferred the technology to multiple industries in India for large-scale production of the Oxycare system.

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Mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, is caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes. It is very important to identify the signs and symptoms of black fungus because it can turn dangerous if left untreated. Also know what are the dos and don'ts in COVID patients.

READ: Black Fungus Symptoms: Identify symptoms of mucormycosis in COVID cases

India saw a record rise in COVID-19 deaths with 4,205 fresh fatalities taking the country's death toll to 2,54,197, while 3,48,421 new coronavirus infections were reported, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The total tally of COVID-19 cases in the country now stands at 2,33,40,938.

The active cases have reduced to 37,04,099 comprising 15.87 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 83.04 percent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
   
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,93,82,642 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.
09 percent, the data stated.

-PTI

India’s second COVID-19 wave seems to have flattened but the climb down will be a more prolonged, long drawn-out process than the first and will possibly run till July, says eminent virologist Shahid Jameel. Though the new variants of the virus may partly be responsible for the explosion in the number of cases, there is no indication the mutant versions are more lethal, added the director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University, amid mounting worries about what is fuelling the second wave in India.

Addressing an online event organised by the Indian Express on Tuesday evening, Jameel noted that it is a little too early to say if the Covid wave has peaked. “The curve may have flattened but the other side of the peak is not going to be an easy climb down. It's possibly going to be a more prolonged long-drawn-out process running possibly till July, That means, even if the curve starts to decline, we will continue to have to deal with a large number of infections every day,” Jameel said.

-PTI

Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin was on Tuesday recommended by an expert panel for phase II/III clinical trial on those aged between two to 18 years, official sources said. The trial will take place in 525 subjects at various sites, including AIIMS, Delhi, AIIMS, Patna and Meditrina Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagpur.

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The appointment can be rescheduled at any time. In case you are not able to go for vaccination on the date of appointment, you can reschedule the appointment by clicking on the “Reschedule” tab. You can also cancel the appointment anytime.

If one citizen is aged 45 or above and other citizen is aged 18 to 44 years and both want to schedule a combined appointment, then only private paid vaccination centres or vaccination centres as per State’s policy will be made available. However, it may happen that some hospitals which are catering to people with 45 years or more may not allow the booking of appointments for people with lesser age. In that case you may make bookings one by one. 

Note: Up to 4 people can be registered for vaccination using the same mobile number in the Co-WIN portal. Citizens with no access to smart phones or computers can take help from friends or family for online registration.

As per the government, citizens aged 18-44 years should mandatorily register online and schedule appointments. However, people aged 45 years and above can schedule appointments online or walk-in to vaccination centres. 

Vaccination Centres provide for a limited number of on-spot registration slots every day. So, all citizens are recommended to register online and schedule vaccination in advance for a hassle-free vaccination experience.

Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal, said Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab, Assam, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura were among the 16 states and union territories showing continued increasing trend in daily new COVID-19 cases. 

(PTI)

In response to a question on whether younger population were getting more affected, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said the comparison of data during the first and the second wave of COVID-19 has shown that there is not much age difference.  People above the age of 40 are more vulnerable for adverse outcomes.

"We have found that younger people are getting slightly more involved because suddenly they have gone out and there are variants also prevalent in the nation which may be affecting them as well," he said.

(PTI)