India expands its vaccination program amid omicron expansion

The Prime Minister of the India, Narendra Modi, announced this Saturday that the Asian country will expand its vaccination campaign against coronavirus Covid-19 to include those over 15 years of age and will allow booster doses for the population over 60 at risk, given the expansion of the omicron variant.

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“Vaccination for minors between the ages of 15 and 18 will begin on January 3, 2022,” Modi said in a televised address to the nation.

In addition, citizens over 60 years of age who suffer from comorbidities will be eligible for a booster dose against covid-19 from January.

“India has to be vigilant about the spread of the coronavirus,” added the prime minister.

“Taking into account the seriousness of the covid-19, today more than 1,410 million doses have been administered in India and more than 90% of the adult population has been vaccinated with a first dose. In many countries, the number of infections is increasing due to the new variant of the coronavirus. I call on everyone to remain calm and to remain vigilant ”, he concluded.

India has so far inoculated more than 60% of the adult population, some 576 million people, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Health.

According to official figures, India registered 7,189 coronavirus infections and 387 deaths in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 34.7 million and the total number of deaths to 479,530.

These numbers contrast with those registered last May, when India became the global epicenter of the coronavirus and registered more than 400,000 infections and 4,000 deaths a day, a crisis that pushed the authorities to suspend exports of injections to meet the domestic demand.

But the expansion of the omicron variant, with 415 confirmed infections throughout the country since the first case was detected on December 2, has caused concern among authorities and experts.

The Indian government last Thursday called on states to be vigilant and not “lower their guard” in the fight against the coronavirus, recommending night curfews and local lockdowns to contain the spread of infections.

Many states in the Asian country have imposed restrictions without confining the population, and some states such as Haryana (north) will require the vaccination certificate to enter public spaces as well as shopping centers and movie theaters, and neighboring Punjab.

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