1) #Kerala's #COVID19 mortality rate has been consistently increasing over the past month after reaching a low of 0.3%. Still one of the lowest in India.
Total reported #COVID19 deaths are at 10,157, the 10th largest in India.
2) There are concerns of underreporting of deaths with mortality rates being significantly different across districts ranging from 0.1% to 0.8%.
During the 2nd wave from March 18 in KL, the share of total cases from Trivandrum is only 10% while that of deaths is 22%.
Data thread on #COVID19Vaccine distribution across Indian states
*Age group:
HCWs & FLWs are among all age groups
Most of the limited supply should ideally go to the 60+ followed by 45-60 until supply is sufficient. Yet, a large chunk is going to 18-45 in some states
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There is a considerable gender gap in the distribution of vaccinations in some states
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88% of all doses so far were Covishield at the national level, followed by Covaxin. Sputink already distributed in some states such AP, TS, MH, KA, KL, & WB. 3/
2/ First of all, of the total vaccine exports from India till y’day, only ~16% were sent as Grants by GoI. Others were all SII fulfilling its commitments one way or the other. GoI has nothing to do there or take credit for.
If anything, GoI had to stop SII from exporting further.
3/ Even out of this 16%, about 65% went to 5 of our neighbors (Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, & Maldives). The remaining went mostly to other low-income coutries.
@MoHFW_INDIA is the official Twitter handle of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GoI. It must a place to report accurate, realistic, & contextual info on the pandemic that is ravaging the country!
Has it done that? I do not think so!
Why?
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There's been an undue emphasis on the cumulative numbers of #COVID19 vaccine doses administered, tests done, recovered cases, etc. without a sense of reality. India is the 2nd populous country in the world. So, the cumulative numbers for anything ought to be large!
It's been a month since @ICMRDELHI has been reporting at least 100K fewer tests than the tests reported by all states combined. This discrepancy has been growing & is over 3L for the past several weeks.
What does it mean? What implications?
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In the past, this difference used to get reconciled over time. But, this time, this difference is so large & not been reconciled for a long time.
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Few plausible reasons: 1) ICMR only reports tests coming from its own approved labs & states maybe adding testing numbers from unrecognized labs too
2)States inflating the testing numbers on paper for various reasons
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Daily avg jabs are now 1.8M indicating acute vaccine shortage whether GoI admits it or not.
It means 18-45 yrs who are better positioned to register on CoWIN & at lesser risk of dying are using the limited doses & depriving the more vulnerable
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Avg. daily jabs have declined from a peak of 3.7m to 1.8m (51% fall over the past month)
Many vulnerable & aged have to reschedule their visits multiple times to get jabs which increase their risk of exposure significantly
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Until the vaccine supply is increased & can be ensured at a minimum of 5m doses/day, the GoI should immediately stop the 18+ vaccination drive.
This is extremely important to reduce the risk of deaths among the most vulnerable population.