Mansukh Mandaviya

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed the 50 crore-mark on Friday.

The health minister on Thursday had also held a meeting with Dr Reddy's Laboratories Chairman Satish Reddy regarding the production and supply of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V.

As per data maintained by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), the quantity of API imports were at Rs 3,90,476 MT and exports were at 3,24,331 MT for FY 2020-21, he added.

According to experts, to reach herd immunity it is imperative for children and teens to get COVID-19 vaccines.

Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour in Lok Sabha, the minister said the government is still in talks with US company Pfizer with respect to making its vaccine available in India.

On supply of vaccine to the state governments, Mansukh Mandaviya said states are given vaccine availability projections 15 days in advance. "It is their responsibility to plan inoculation accordingly," he added.

Mucormycosis and other fungal infections are most commonly seen as an opportunistic infection. They are found in those with low underlying immunity either due to a diabetes, cancers particularly hematological malignancies, etc. or as a side effect of prolonged/irrational use of certain drugs like steroids, immunosuppressive drugs for management of other disorders including COVID-19, the minister explained.

The new phase of universalisation of COVID-19 vaccination started from June 21.

In a series of tweets, Mansukh Mandaviya said the availability of vaccines can be better understood by an "actual analysis of the facts".

The NEET PG 2021 on May 13 was postponed by atleast 4 months and the exam were not be held before August 31, 2021.

In the medium term, the two biggest challenges Mansukh Mandaviya faces are to ensure that the pace of vaccination improves, with enough supply stock in reserve, and that the infrastructure and trained personnel are in place to deal with the ‘third wave’.

The Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers noted that domestic production of Amphotericin B has already gone up five folds so far.

The current total installed capacity of the seven manufacturers of Remdesivir is 38.80 lakh vials per month. The government expects the production to be ramped up to 78 lakh vials per month.

The maximum retail price of non-urea fertilisers such as DAP cannot be raised, Union MoS Mansukh Mandaviya said, adding that the old rates would continue for the farmers.

The development follows launch of a roll-on roll-off (RoRo) cum passenger ferry service, also called 'RoPax', between Mumbai and Mandwa near Alibaug last year which saw one lakh passengers in 20 weeks besides transportation of 20,000 vehicles.

Cabinet has also approved the export of Akash Missile System.

Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had recently said the cargo traffic at 12 major ports declined considerably March onwards due to the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bodies coming together for this initiative include Maritime Association of Shipowners Shipmanagers and Agents (MASSA) and Foreign Owners Representatives and Ship Managers Association (FOSMA).

The decision was taken at the 17th meeting of the Martime State Development Council (MSDC) held here in which secretaries of states participated.

Impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the sector has largely been positive and constructive, he added.