Don’t attend mass events unless fully vaxxed: Govt

NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry reiterated on Thursday that all mass gatherings should be discouraged ahead of the country’s upcoming festive season, and if attending such events is absolutely essential for someone, then full vaccination must be treated a prerequisite.

The second Covid-19 wave is “not yet over” in the country, and spike in cases has always been observed as soon as festive seasons get wrapped up, senior officials health ministry officials warned on Thursday.

While nationally the positivity rate continues to show an overall declining trend since the week ending May 10, several districts still have very high positivity rates, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said during the government’s Covid-19 press briefing. A total of 39 districts reported a positivity rate of over 10% in the past week, while another 38 districts had a positivity rate of 5-10%, he added.

Government experts urged people to get both their vaccine shots as soon as possible and to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour in the coming weeks.

Till Thursday night, around 700 million doses of the vaccine were administered to 514.6 million people, with 155.2 million people fully vaccinated and 359.4 million people receiving one shot, according to government data. When seen alongside the country’s projected adult population of 940 million (according to the Census of India’s National Commission on Population), this means that while 54.7% of India’s adults have received jabs, only 16.5% of those above the age of 18 are fully vaccinated. Covid infections saw a major spike in Kerala in the past two weeks – a phenomenon experts have attributed to Onam festivities.

EXPERTS SAY SEVERAL FESTIVALS ARE LINED UP IN THE COMING 8-10 WEEKS AND PEOPLE NEED TO BE CAREFUL