India vaccinates teens aged 15 to 18 as virus cases rise
Published:Monday | January 3, 2022 | 4:43 PM
NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian health authorities Monday began vaccinating teens in the age group of 15 to 18, as more states started to enforce tighter restrictions to arrest a new surge stoked by the infectious omicron variant.
State governments across India administered doses at schools, hospitals and through special vaccination sites amid a rapid rise in coronavirus infections, particularly in the country's densely populated cities.
Data from the health ministry showed India confirmed over 33,000 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.
Deaths increased by 123, bringing the total to nearly 482,000.
Authorities are saying that even as cases have started to rise rapidly, hospitalisations have not gone up.
“There is no need to panic,” Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, said Sunday.
India has so far recorded almost 35 million COVID-19 infections.
The current surge in cases, including those of the omicron variant, is largely concentrated in India's big cities like Delhi and the financial capital Mumbai.
The country has reported more than 1,700 omicron cases, with the highest number of infections in the western state of Maharashtra.
Many states have imposed new restrictions, including night curfews, limiting seating in bars and restaurants, and banning large public gatherings.
The latest to enforce such restrictions was the state of West Bengal where authorities Sunday closed all schools and colleges.
The new surge prompted the country's health minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, on Sunday to urge states to speedily ramp up medical infrastructure.
To bolster the public health system, including adding beds in intensive care units, Indian lawmakers approved a $3.1 billion financial package in August.
But less than 17% of those funds have been utilised so far, the health minister said.
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