India: Robust vaccination helped country manage Omicron, says health minister

India's Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, recently highlighted how the country managed the Omicron surge better than most others.

India's Covid-19 average daily cases fell by 98.9 per cent from January 19 and 25 to March 9 and 15, when the Omicron surge took place.

A high vaccination coverage and other key strategies in its response to Covid-19 revealed India’s strong political will, self-reliance, technology-powered innovation and collaborative efforts, he said in Delhi on Thursday.

The minister said average cases dropped sharply from 311,000 between January 19 and 25, to 3,536 cases between March 9 and 15. India had set global standards of vaccination, he added.

“One of the key achievements has been our capacity to deliver over 1.8 billion Covid vaccine doses across a multitude of regions and terrains," he said. More than 90 per cent of the population has received the first dose and 65 per cent the second dose.

Data released on Friday revealed that there is a consistent decline in Covid-19 cases. There were 2,528 new infections in the last 24 hours and 149 Covid-19 deaths were reported. Nearly 4,000 people have been discharged over the past 24 hours.

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