visakhapatnam l sunday l february 28, 2021 l `8.00 l PAGES 24 l late city EDITION U.S. owes India $216 bn as its debt soars to $28 trillion Republican opposing Biden’s $1.9 tn Covid relief package warned it would worsen the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio Borrowing from not friendly countries Debt doubled during obama years On a day the House of Representatives approved the package in a 219-212 near party-line vote, Republican Senator Alex Mooney said US will have to borrow more to fund the stimulus from countries that aren’t friends. The biggest creditors are Japan and China, whom the US owes $1 trillion each. The $29 trillion debt means the US has borrowed $84,000 per citizen | p9 ■ ■ Mooney said the national debt doubled during Barack Obama’s tenure and added $10,000 per citizen in the past one year alone The relief package aims to tackle the economic fallout from the pandemic, including direct financial aid to average Americans, support to businesses and boost the national vaccination drive $104 tn estimated addition to the national debt by 2050 CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Vaccine at private hospitals to cost L250 Initially, 20K facilities will get Covishield alone; list of 20 comorbidities finalised lymphoma, blood cancer or myeloma, those with HIV and acid attack survivors with inThe Union ministry of health volvement of the respiratory and family welfare on Satur- system will also be eligible to day fixed the cost of Covid-19 receive the shots. Apart from vaccines, set to be offered to this, a host of heart diseases, those above 60 years and peo- transplant patients and people ple over 45 years with specified with severe disabilities have comorbidities, at `250 also been included in per shot in private the list of hospitals and also ficomorbidities. nalised a list of 20 unAs per the agreederlying conditions, ment between the Both Covaxin and or comorbidities. manufacturers, repreCovishield are Top sources in the sentatives of private available in ministry also said hospitals and the govAndhra Pradesh. that in the beginning, Beneficiaries need ernment, the vaccine only Covishield, demakers will get `150 to take the available vaccine veloped by Oxford per jab while hospiat the medical U nive rsity -Ast ratals will earn `100 per facility without Zeneca, will be made shot for every dose of any choice available in about the vaccine adminis20,000 private hospitered. “States have Geetha Prasadini, tals where the exbeen explained that Additional Director, panded Covid-19 vacthe private hospitals Medical and Health cination drive is set functioning as Covid to begin. vaccination centres The list of comobidities in- can be subject to a ceiling of cludes those having diabetes `250 per person per dose along for over 10 years or with com- with the electronic and finanplications and hypertension cial management mechanism on treatment. Those with dia- in this regard,” the ministry betes or hypertension will not said in a statement. qualify to get the shot. Also, Around 10,000 private hospipeople diagnosed with solid tals empanelled under the cancer since July last year, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Comorbidities for determining eligibility Significant left ventricular systolic dysfunction S u m i S u k a n ya D u t ta @ New Delhi Pilgrims at Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirumala on Saturday | Express Devotees can take part in Arjitha Sevas from April 14: TTD chairman E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Tirumala The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board of Trustees meeting on Saturday decided to allow participation of devotees in all Arjitha Sevas at Venkateswara temple from April 14. The TTD had stopped permitting devotees’ participation in Arjitha Sevas on March 22, 2020 in view of Covid-19. At present, all Arjitha Sevas are being performed in Ekantham at the temple though devotees were allowed to visit Tirumala from June 2020. Briefing mediapersons about the resolutions adopted in the TTD Trust Board meeting, TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy said devotees need to book their Arjitha Seva tickets online. They should strictly adhere to Covid-19 guidelines during their participation in Arjitha Sevas and furnish corona negative report after undergoing the test three days prior to their visit to P4 Tirumala.  K Rithvika Sri on Mount Kilimanjaro Nine-yr-old conquers Kilimanjaro E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @Anantapur Nine-year-old Kadapala Rithvika Sri from Anantapur has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, which is the African continent’s highest peak, along with her father and guide. She climbed to Gilman’s Point on February 25. Hailing from M Agraharam village in Tadimarri mandal, Rithvika Sri is a class 2 student of St Vincent De Paul English Medium School of A n a n t ap u r. H e r f at h e r Shankar is a cricket coach and sports coordinator in the Special Olympics Bharat wing of RDT, Anantapur. “Rithvika Sri took part in the mountaineering expedition with enthusiasm and she could make it in her first attempt,’’ Shankar said. W I T H T H I S I SSU E Present Tense, Future Hazy PLUS 12 PAGES Major decisions of TTD Board meeting  The TTD Budget for the financial year 2021-22 was approved with an outlay of `2,937.82 crore  The meeting resolved to urge the Centre to declare cow a national animal  Thulabharam to be introduced at Padmavathi temple at Tiruchanoor  6 TTD Veda Patasalas to be renamed as Venkateswara Veda Vigyana Peetham  The TTD is likely to build Venkateswara temple, Bhajan Mandir or Pilgrim Amenities Complex if land is allotted for it in Ayodhya  Anna Prasadam for pilgrims visiting Tirumala via Srivari Mettu route Financial aid to temples in State from SRIVANI Trust States in a fix as Centre yet to finalise jab details While the Covid-19 vaccination drive is entering the next phase on Monday, states are still grappling with basic details. Many states are in the dark about how many doses, or which vaccine, will they receive. Officials in the Union health ministry said talks are on with SII and Bharat Biotech to gauge the available stock of vaccine vials that can be immediately dispatched to states. Heart failure with hospital admission in past one year stock status Vaccine availability Karnataka Covishield Kerala Covishield Covishield, Tamil Nadu Covaxin Covishield, Telangana Covaxin Covishield, Andhra Pradesh Covaxin Covishield, Odisha Covaxin State Yojana, nearly 687 hospitals empanelled under the Central Government Health Scheme and other private hospitals empanelled under state health insurance schemes can participate in the vaccination drive, it added. The price of the vaccines Current prolonged use of oral corticosteroids/immunosuppressants Decompensated cirrhosis Severe respiratory disease with hospitalisation in last two years Lymphoma/leukaemia/ myeloma Diagnosis of any solid cancer or or after July 1, 2020 or currently on cancer therapy Sickle cell disease/bone marrow failure/aplastic anemia/ thalassemia major Primary immunodeficiency diseases/HIV infection Disabilities due to intellectual disabilities/muscular dystrophy/acid attack with involvement of respiratory system/persons with disabilities having high support needs/multiple disabilities was fixed after several rounds of meetings between government officials, led by V K Paul, member (health) Niti Aayog, who heads the National Expert Group on Covid19 Vaccine Administration, and representatives of the two vaccine manufacturers, Bharat Biotech and Post cardiac transplant/ left ventricular assist device Moderate of severe valvular heart disease Coronary artery disease with past CABG/PTCA/MI and hypertension/ diabetes on treatment CT/MRI documented stroke and hypertension/diabetes on treatment Angina and hypertension/ diabetes on treatment Post cardiac transplant/ left ventricular assist device Diabetes (>10 years or with complications) and hypertension on treatment End stage kidney disease on haemodialysis/CAPD People diagnosed with Cancer the Serum Institute of India. The price for each dose of the vaccine for individuals will be less than the price at which the government had procured the vaccines in the first and second phases of the vaccination drive for healthcare and frontline workers.