Representational image. PTI

Coronavirus News LATEST Updates: As a simulation of actual execution of the coronavirus vaccination drive, another round of dry run/mock drill in all 700+ districts of all States/UTs (except Uttar Pardesh and Haryana who have already conducted/ will be conducting the dry run in all districts on 5 January and 7 January respectively) is planned on 8 January, said  the health ministry in a release.

The roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine is expected to begin in the 'near future' and this necessitates the testing of all planned mechanisms in the country, the ministry said.

The Centre has asked the Tamil Nadu government to comply with MHA's COVID-19 guidelines, pointing out that its decision to allow full occupancy in cinema halls amounts to diluting guidelines, which stipulate that cinema theatres, multiplexes outside containment zones have been allowed to open with 50 percent capacity, said reports.

The European Medicines Agency said on Wednesday that it had given the green light for US firm Moderna's coronavirus vaccine, the second jab for the disease to be cleared for use in the EU.

"EMA has recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation for COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 in people from 18 years of age," the Amsterdam-based regulator said in a statement.

With two more persons testing positive for the new UK coronavirus strain, the total number of persons infected with the variant has gone up to 73, said the Union health ministry.

Giving a break-up f the cases, the ministry said the variant was detected in eight samples at NCDC, New Delhi, 20 in IGIB, Delhi, in one sample in NIBMG, Kalyani , 30 in NIV-Pune, three in CCMB, Hyderabad and 11 in NIMHANS Bengaluru

The Punjab government on Wednesday decided to reopen all schools from 7 January  for students of classes 5 to 12,  following persistent demand from parents, said state education minister Vijay Inder Singla.

In a statement, Singla said the timings of the schools will be from 10 am to 3 pm.

After a gap of over six months, Odisha on Wednesday did not report any fresh fatality due to COVID-19 , while 231 new cases pushed the state's caseload to 3,30,921, a health official said.

In Belagavi district alone, 18 teachers have tested positive for COVID-19 . The government had mandated that all teaching and non-teaching staff must undergo a COVID-19 test before educational institutions reopen.

According to the ICMR, 17,74,63,405 COVID-19 samples have been tested so far with 9,31,408 samples being tested on Tuesday alone.

India on Wednesday recorded 18,088 fresh cases of coronavirus in a span of 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 1,03,74,932.

As many as 264 COVID-19 patients succumbed to the infection in a day, taking the toll in India to 1,50,114, said the Union health ministry on Wednesday. The total number of active cases in the country now stands at 2,27,546.

Getting immunised against COVID-19 will be a voluntary exercise and it is important that both dozes of the vaccine be administered to an individual for developing better immune response against the disease, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria has said.

Protective levels of antibodies generally develop two weeks after receiving the second dose, he said.

The senior pulmonologist also stressed that the vaccine introduced in India will be as effective as any vaccine developed by other countries.

With the COVID-19 vaccine expected to be rolled out within a few days, Guleria answered some FAQs about the vaccination drive inavideo uploaded on the health ministry's website.

He responded to questions such as whether taking the coronavirus vaccine was mandatory, how long does it take for the antibodies to develop and if it was necessary for a COVID-recovered person to take the vaccine.

He said while getting inoculated against COVID-19 will be voluntary, it is advisable to receive the complete schedule of the vaccine irrespective of past history of infection as this will help develop better immune response against the disease.

"Vaccination for COVID-19 is voluntary. However, it is advisable to receive the complete schedule of the vaccine for protecting oneself against this disease and also to limit the spread of this disease to close contacts including family members, friends, relatives and co-workers," Guleria said.

On whether a person with an active COVID-19 infection can be vaccinated, Guleria said a person with active and symptomatic coronavirus infection may increase the risk of spreading the virus to others at the vaccination site and thus, infected individuals should defer vaccination for at least 14 days after the symptoms are resolved.

He said individuals who have one or more co-morbid conditions should take the vaccine because they fall in the high-risk category and should protect themselves. He added that their medications will not interfere with vaccine efficacy.

Elaborating on the possible side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, Guleria said as is true for other vaccines, there could be some degree of side effects in some individuals which could be in the form of mild fever, pain at the site of injection, body ache, etc. States have been asked to make arrangements to deal with any COVID-19 vaccine related side effects as one of the measures towards safe vaccine delivery.

Two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, 28 days apart, need to be administered to an individual to complete the vaccination schedule, Guleria said.

He further said the government has selected priority groups who will be vaccinated.The first group includes healthcare and frontline workers, while the second group will comprise of people over 50 years of age as well as those below 50 years with co-morbid conditions.

The eligible beneficiaries will be informed through their registered mobile numbers regarding the healthcare facility where the vaccination will be provided and the scheduled time for the same. This will be done to avoid any inconvenience in registration and vaccination of beneficiaries, he said.

Guleria further clarified that registration of a beneficiary is mandatory for vaccination for COVID-19 . Only after registration on the official portal, the information on the session site to visit and time will be shared with the beneficiary.

Following online registration, the beneficiary will receive an SMS on their registered mobile number informing about the due date, place and time of vaccination.

A valid ID with photo such as driving license, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) job card, PAN card, passbooks issued by Bank/Post Office, passport, pension document, service identity card issued to employees by Central/ State Govt./ Public Limited Companies and voter ID may be produced at the time of registration.

On the preventive measures and precautions that one needs to follow at the session site, Guleria said one should rest at the vaccination centre for at least half an hour after taking the COVID-19 vaccine and any symptoms or discomfort must be reported to the nearest medical professional such as ANM (auxiliary nursing midwife) or ASHA worker.