Kerala to float global tender to procure 3 crore COVID vaccines

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], May 17 (ANI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that the state government has initiated steps to float a global tender to source three crore COVID vaccine doses.
"The tender notification will be issued today", he said.
Addressing media persons here Vijayan said that the vaccination for adults aged 18 to 44 years has started in the state, and first priority will be given to people with serious illness," the CM said.
"After registering on the Central Government's Cowin website, they should register in the state government's Covid portal using the same phone number and submit the required information. In addition, they have to upload the Co-morbidity Form after getting it filled by a registered medical practitioner. Applications without Co-morbidity Form will be rejected. So far, 50,178 applications have been submitted and of these, 45,525 applications have been verified," he said.
Kerala on Monday reported 99,651 recoveries and 21,402 positive cases. As many as 86,505 samples were tested in the last 24 hours with a test positivity rate of 24.74 per cent. Meanwhile, 87 deaths were confirmed, taking the death toll to 6,515.
"It is reassuring that there is a slight decrease in the number of active cases in the state as they have come down from 4,45,000 to 3,62,315, as a result of the weekend restrictions, night curfews and the general caution implemented before the lockdown," the Chief Minister said.
"Experts are of the opinion that the peak of the disease spread is over but we should continue to follow restrain and be on guard," he added.
Strict lockdown restrictions continue in the state. Triple lockdown is being implemented successfully in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram districts. Over the last two weeks, eight districts have recorded a decline of 10 to 30 per cent.
The lowest decline was reported in Wayanad district. In Pathanamthitta, the prevalence of the disease is stable. However, the number of cases is increasing in Kollam, Malappuram, Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad districts. In Kollam district, there is an increase of 23 per cent. (ANI)