The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has gone past 40 crore with over 46.38 lakh doses given on Saturday, according to the Union health ministry. A total of 21,18,682 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years received the first dose, while 2,33,019 were administered the second dose of the vaccine on Saturday, the ministry said. "India's cumulative Covid vaccination coverage has surpassed 40 crore (40,44,67,526)," according to a provisional report.
The Health Ministry also informed that COVID-19 can make a person more susceptible to developing active tuberculosis as it is an "opportunistic" infection like Black Fungus but currently there is not enough evidence to suggest TB cases have risen due to the viral disease.
The ministry said notification of tuberculosis cases had decreased by about 25 per cent in 2020 due to Covid-related restrictions and special efforts are being made to mitigate this impact through intensified case findings.
Meanwhile, France will consider people fully vaccinated one week after they received their second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca shots, instead of 14 days previously, and 28 days after their Johnson & Johnson jab. The country will also accept vaccination by Covishield, a copy of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India, for its health pass, Prime Minister Jean Castex said in a statement.
