Over 17,000 people were vaccinated across 553 sites in six states on Day 2 of India's coronavirus vaccination drive, the Health Ministry said Sunday evening, adding that the number who had received at least one shot was around 2.24 lakh. On Saturday (Day 1) 1.91 lakh were vaccinated at 3,006 sites after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide drive.
The Health Ministry said the drop in the number of states carrying out vaccinations today was part of a "usual strategy" to avoid clashes with immunisation schedules for other illnesses.
"The usual strategy is to avoid days on which there is a holiday or routine immunisation for other diseases. Most states are doing it over four days but smaller states like Goa are doing it over two because they have lesser numbers," Manohar Agnani, Health Ministry Joint Secretary, said.
The difference between targeted and actual vaccinations (the opening day target was three lakh) has been put down to the vaccination being voluntary.
There have, however, been concerns raised about the safety and efficacy of one of the vaccines being used - Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. The drug was cleared for emergency use despite Phase III trials still pending. The government said it was cleared on the basis of Phase I and II trial data.
Yesterday the Prime Minister urged people against believing rumours about the vaccine's efficacy.
Today the Health Ministry also said that protocols were in place to respond to AEFIs (adverse events following immunisation). The ministry said the majority of such events were usually mild in nature - some swelling at the injection site, slight nausea or brief allergic reactions to the jab.
AdvertisementOnly a few AEFIs required hospitalisation and these were listed as "serious", the ministry explained.
The ministry said only 447 AEFIs had been recorded so far, of which only three had to be hospitalised. Two have been discharged (from Delhi's AIIMS and Railway Hospital), while the third is under observation at the AIIMS in Rishikesh.
AdvertisementEarlier today Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain said 52 AEFIs had been recorded in the national capital after the vaccine roll-out. Only one of these incidents was "a bit serious," he said, adding that the patient had been admitted to AIIMS and was now stable.
Two vaccines have been cleared for emergency use in India - Covishield (developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and manufactured by Pune's Serum Institute) and the wholly-homegrown and manufactured Covaxin.
AdvertisementIn the first phase around one crore healthcare staff and two crore frontline workers, like police, community care workers and sanitation department employees, will receive the shots.
They will be followed by around 27 crore people - consisting of those over the age of 50 and those below with serious illnesses and associated comorbidities.
