India has to buy time to ensure high coverage of Covid vaccination is achieved: Govt

PTI, Jun 4, 2021, 5:09 PM IST

New Delhi: India has to buy time to ensure that high coverage of vaccination against COVID-19 is achieved, the government said on Friday.

If the containment measures, COVID-19 appropriate behaviour or vaccination pace slackens, cases can rise again, it said.

Data sharing is going on with the WHO to give recognition to Bharat Biotech”s Covaxin, the government said, adding that India was pursuing it and wanted to achieve it as soon as possible.

India has overtaken US in terms of the number of people who have received at least a single dose of the vaccine, it said.

Almost 68 per cent decline has been noted in COVID-19 cases since the highest reported peak of cases on May 7, the government said.

There has been a decrease in active cases by more than 21 lakh since the peak of active cases on May 10, it said.

Presently, there are 377 districts reporting less than 5 per cent case positivity rate, the government said.

“We have to buy time to ensure high coverage of vaccination against COVID-19 is achieved,” it said.

About 43 per cent of 60 years plus population has been vaccinated, while 37 per cent people above 45 years has been inoculated so far, the government said.