Ignoring vaccination could be risky

Several States in the country continue to report an increased number of daily new cases. Six States, Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, have shown a surge in new cases in the last 24 hours. In all, 15,510 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 8,293. It is followed by Kerala with 3,254 while Punjab has reported 579 new cases. A total of 87.25 per cent of the new cases are from these six States.

The Centre is continuously engaging with the States and UTs manifesting a higher caseload of active cases and those reporting a rise in the daily new Covid cases. States and UTs have been advised to maintain a continued rigorous vigil for containing the spread of Covid-19. Need for effective testing, comprehensive tracking, prompt isolation of positive cases and quick quarantine of close contacts are strongly emphasised. Eight states are displaying an upward trajectory in the daily new cases India's total active caseload is 1,68,627 today.

India's present active caseload now stands at 1.52 per cent of India's total positive cases. Five States account for 84 per cent of total active cases in the country. Maharashtra alone accounts for 46.39 per cent of India's total active cases, followed by Kerala with 29.49 per cent. 21 States/UTs have reported less than 1,000 active cases. Arunachal Pradesh has reported no active cases in the last 24 hours. 15 States/UTs have registered more than 1,000 active cases. Kerala and Maharashtra are the two states with more than 10,000 active cases, while the rest of the 13 States/UTs have between 1,000-10,000 active cases.

So far, a total of 1,43,01,266 vaccine doses have been administered to beneficiaries through 2,92,312 sessions. These include first dose of 66,69,985 Health Care Workers (HCWs), second dose of 24,56,191 HCWs and 51,75,090 FLWs who have taken the first dose. The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination has commenced from March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specific comorbid conditions. A simplified process of registration has been set up, whereby potential beneficiaries can have the option of advance self-registration, on-site registration or facilitated cohort registration.

Beneficiaries are advised to refer to this user guide for any information on registration and appointment for vaccination. It is unfortunate that there is a section in this country which advises against vaccination. It does so for two reasons. One of the reasons could be out of ignorance. This could be pardoned. But, some of the vocal opponents of the vaccination do so due to their political preferences. They read politics into the vaccination of the nation too.

Either they don't understand the implications of non-vaccination or it is just that they don't care about the nation. The likes of Akhilesh Yadav should be ashamed of their politics as they have given a call for boycott of the vaccines. A few voices went ahead and called these Modi's vaccines. It is imperative that the whole country gets vaccinated and gets so at the earliest. We can hardly afford lockdowns. Fools abound in this world and we cannot help it. But we can surely help ourselves by getting vaccinated.