Medical staff move a ventilator from a ward that is set up to treat people infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad. (Reuters photo)

Coronavirus Vaccine Registration, Coronavirus Omicron Variant Cases in India Live Updates: As many as 86 per cent of India’s eligible population has received the first dose of COVID vaccine and the government wishes that 100 per cent vaccination is achieved at the earliest, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Friday.

Replying to supplementary questions in the Lok Sabha, Mandaviya also said that 7 crore vaccines are lying with states and also cautioned against possible vaccine hesistancy that could be triggered by claims of health complications after vaccination.

During the question hour, he said that 86 per cent of the eligible population has received the first COVID dose and “we wish that 100 per cent vaccination happens at the earliest”.

Union Health Minister on Omicron: To a query related to Omicron, he said that studies are going on and only after the studies are complete, it will be known which vaccine is how much effective against the new variant.

Currently, 23 cases of Omicron have been reported in the country while worldwide, a total of 59 countries have reported such cases.

Contact of Omicron-infected person in Rajasthan tests positive for Covid

A woman contact of an Omicron case in Rajasthan has been found COVID-19 positive in Delhi and is being shifted to the Lok Nayak Hospital, officials said on Friday.

The woman tested Covid positive on Thursday. She did not travel to any foreign country. 17 members in her family have been also put under home quarantine, an official said.

She is being taken to the LNJP Hospital and her sample has been sent for genome sequencing to the National Centre for Disease Control, the official said, adding her contacts are being traced.

Covid Vaccine Booster Dose: As scientists world over try to understand the full impact of Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, there is a growing clamour for the booster jabs. A latest study has found that three doses of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine can fight the Omicron strain. With Western world inoculating population across all age groups, India is still undecided on this issue. But this may change today as a crucial meeting of experts will take place sometime later in the day.

ALSO READ — SEC to hold meeting on Covid booster doses; India extends ban on scheduled international flights till January 31

The experts will decide if India should also roll out booster jabs or not. With 50 per cent population fully vaccinated, the Modi government has insisted that there is no need for additional doses. Rather the focus should be on increasing the vaccination coverage.

India records 8,503 new cases in last 24hrs

#Unite2FightCorona#LargestVaccineDrive#OmicronVariant

???????????????????? ????????????????????https://t.co/XYZhhl2bv5 pic.twitter.com/aQ1ZOigqFt

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) December 10, 2021

India extends ban on scheduled international flights till January 31

Meanwhile, the ban on the scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India has been extended till 31st January 2022.

The suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger services to/from India extended till 31st January 2022. pic.twitter.com/bl1Lpwh0gY

— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2021

As India and other nations try to come up with a definite strategy to fight Omicron variant, here are the latest Covid updates: