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Omicron Booster Alert: Scammers finding new way to make money by helping people get booster shot | Here’s all you need to know

Scammers posing as government health experts are contacting gullible people to book their booster shots to fight the Omicron variant. Know about the booster shot scam here.

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With the surge in Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, the government has decided to administer booster shots or a third vaccine to the citizens in order to develop immunity in their bodies to fight the highly transmissible variant. Currently, the booster shot is being administered to senior citizens and frontline workers.

The booster shot can be booked online on the CoWIN platform. But people need to be careful while booking the slot because you may lose money. Scammers are finding a new way to make money by helping people get a booster shot.

Here’s all you need to know about the booster scam!

Scammers posing as government health experts are contacting gullible people to book their booster shots. Fraudsters primarily target senior citizens and other eligible individuals. Surprisingly, the scammers are well-prepared to mislead people. A person claiming from the health department will contact an elderly person and ask for personal information such as vaccine dose specifics for the first and second shots, as well as address, phone number, and other information.

Then after a few days, the person will receive a call from someone purporting to be from the health department, requesting assistance in scheduling a booster shot. Personal data are confirmed to make the call look authentic, and the scam caller convinces the victim that a message with an OTP would be sent to their registered phone number. After that, he or she will request the OTP to confirm the booster shot appointment.

In other circumstances, the caller may ask the victim to download a specific app to their phone, usually a remote desktop tool like AnyDesk or TeamViewer, to assist them with the booking process.

The issue now is that OTP is typically created for the UPI request money feature, or it is also seen that the fraudster already has the victim’s bank account details in their record. They may ask for the bank details and OTP to make payment and book the slot online if they don’t have the bank data. The OTP is simply requested to transfer funds from the victim’s bank accounts via UPI or internet banking.

Scammers are primarily targeting those in rural areas or the elderly, who may not be familiar with UPI, remote desktop apps, or online banking. To obtain the OTP for bank transfer, a convincing story is presented.

How to stay safe from such scams?

The first thing to keep in mind is that government employees will never call you to schedule a vaccine appointment. In fact, there isn’t a way to register via phone. The CoWIN platform is the only way to schedule a Covid vaccine appointment. You can use the Aarogya Setu app or the CoWIN desktop website. You can also register and receive a vaccine by going directly to any vaccine centre.

No government official will ever ask for an OTP in order to schedule a vaccine appointment. Moreover, OTPs are designed to be kept private and should not be shared with anybody.

Health

India registers 313 new Covid cases, active cases reach 2,041, 3 deaths recorded in last 24 hours

The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in the new cases nor a rise in the hospitalization and mortality.

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India saw a single-day rise of 313 new Covid cases, while the active caseload has declined to 2,041, the health ministry said on Saturday.  Three deaths: two from Karnataka and one from Maharashtra were reported in the last 24 hours.

According to the ministry website, the number of active cases in the country stood at 2,331 on Friday. The number of cases of Covid had dropped to double digits till December 5, but it began to start increasing after the emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions.

 According to reports after December 5, the highest single day rise of 841new cases was reported on December 31, 2023, which is 0.2% of the peak cases reported in May 2021. Of the total active cases, a large majority of these (around 92%) are recovering under home isolation.

The currently available data suggests that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in the new cases nor a rise in the hospitalization and mortality. India has witnessed three waves of Covid in the past with its peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported during the delta wave in April June 2021.

 At its peak, 414,188 new cases and 3915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021. Since the pandemic started in early 2020, there have have been 4.5 crore people who have got infected and this has resulted in the death of 5.3 lakh persons in a total time span of four years.

According to the ministry data, the total number of persons who have recuperated from the disease are 4.4 crore with total recovery rate recorded is 98.81%. A total number of 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in India so far.  

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Health

India registers 605 new COVID-19 cases and 4 deaths in last 24 hours

The number of people who have recovered from the disease has gone up to 4,44,81,341, an increase of 648 since Sunday morning. In Kerala a 70 year-old male with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 81year-old male with T2DM and HTN, and in Karnataka, a 48 year old male with CA and TB died, while one person in Tripura succumbed to COVID.

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India recorded 605 fresh COVID-19 cases and four deaths in the last 24 hours. The active cases have increased to 4002, while India’s overall COVID case tally stands at over 4.5 crore (4,50,18,792). The death toll was recorded at 5,33,396 with four new deaths – two from Kerala and one each in Karnataka and Tripura – reported in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8am stated.

The number of people who have recovered from the disease has gone up to 4,44,81,341, an increase of 648 since Sunday morning. In Kerala a 70 year-old male with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 81year-old male with T2DM and HTN, and in Karnataka, a 48 year old male with CA and TB died, while one person in Tripura succumbed to COVID.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) reported that 11,838 doses of the vaccine had been administered in the country till January 7. The data is a compilation of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (National Centre for Disease Control), media bulletins and websites of various states at 8am on January 4.

As the winter season sets in, health experts are highlighting a sudden surge in viral infections, influenza, and COVID-19 cases. Dr Nikhil Modi, a senior pulmonologist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, pointed out that the decrease in temperature leads to increase in moisture in the air, low wind speed and also causes an increase in pollution levels. This contributes highly to various infections.

Due to the decrease in temperature the fog combines with the pollution in the air which further leads to the formation of smog. This condition of the atmosphere can cause different types of infections and difficulty in breathing. Both the state and the central government are keeping a close watch on the new Omicron Subvariant JN.1. J.N.1 is a Variant of Interest (VOI) which is under intense scientific scrutiny.   

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Health

India records 774 new Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths in 24 hours

The number of daily cases was in double digits till December 5 but it started to rise again amid cold weather conditions and after the emergence of new Covid-19 variant, JN.1.

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India on Saturday had a single-day rise of 774 Covid cases while the number of active cases stood at 4,187, the Union health ministry said. As many as two deaths – one each from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat were reported in a span of 24 hours. Of the 4,187 active cases, the majority (over 92%) are recovering under home isolation.

The number of daily cases was in double digits till December 5 but it started to rise again amid cold weather conditions and after the emergence of new Covid-19 variant, JN.1. The central government has asked the state government and union territories to maintain a constant vigil amid an upward trend in the number of Covid-cases and the detection of the JN.1 sub variant in the country.

According to reports after December 5, the highest single-day rise of 841 cases was reported on December 31, 2023, which was 0.2% of the peak cases reported in May 2021. A health official said that the JN.1 variant is neither leading to an exponential rise in new cases nor a surge in hospitalisation and mortality in the country.

The Karnataka government has made the Covid test mandatory for those with Influenza like illness (ILI) or Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said more than 7000 tests are being done every day and the COVID positivity rate is 3.82%. The positivity rate in the state has not come down yet.

He said those with symptoms are being monitored and tested. Those who are in isolation at home have been told to take extra care. He added it is expected that the trend of decreasing Covid cases may start next week in Karnataka. India has witnessed three waves of Covid-19 in the past with the peak incidence of daily cases and deaths being reported during the Delta wave during April-June 2021. At its peak 4,14,188 cases and 3915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021.

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