Coronavirus vaccine: Over 7k get second dose, 80 lakh-plus vaccinated so far

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 15 states and Union territories began administering the second dose on Saturday

second vaccination drive in Maharashtra covid

A police personnel being administered Covid vaccine at Thane Civil Hospital, in Thane. (PTI Photo)

More than 7,000 frontline healthcare workers completed their two-dose immunisation schedule as the country began administering the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Saturday.

In India, both Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin have the same course and schedule: two doses scheduled to be administered four weeks apart.

The vaccine rollout started 28 days ago, and the two lakh beneficiaries who were given the first shot on Day 1 will be administered the second dose. According to official data, 7,668 healthcare workers received the second dose on Saturday. The country touched the 80-lakh mark on Day 28 — 59,35,275 healthcare workers (HCWs) and 21,17,179 frontline workers (FLWs) have been inoculated.

Story continues below this ad

The Indian regulator has said that the second dose vaccine can be administered within a period of four to six weeks. According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 15 states and Union territories began administering the second dose on Saturday.

The top five states and UTs in terms of beneficiaries given the second dose are Andhra Pradesh (3,434), Jharkhand (920), West Bengal (896), Jammu and Kashmir (807), and Tripura (366).

On Saturday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan chaired a detailed review of the status and progress of the vaccination drive with all states and UTs.

As of Saturday, 12 states and UTs have administered the first dose to more than 70 per cent of the registered HCWs. These include Bihar, Lakshadweep, Tripura, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Sikkim.

Story continues below this ad

Also, seven states and UTs have reported less than 40 percent coverage of registered HCWs, including Meghalaya, Punjab, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Nagaland and Puducherry.

The country has so far reported 27 deaths, however, the Centre has said that they are not attributable to the vaccination. “In the last 24 hours, three new deaths have been reported. Out of which, a 38-year-old person, a resident of Harda, Madhya Pradesh, died due to myocardial infarction after 9 days of vaccination. Another is a 35-year-old resident of Panipat, Haryana, suffering from pneumonia with acute respiratory distress syndrome, who died after eight days of vaccination. Post-mortem details are awaited. A 58-year-old resident of Dausa, Rajasthan, collapsed on duty and was brought dead to the hospital after taking the vaccine. His post-mortem details are also awaited,” the health ministry said.

According to the official data, the country has reported 34 cases where the beneficiaries were hospitalised after vaccination. “Of the 34 cases of hospitalisation, 21 were discharged after treatment, while 11 died and 2 are under treatment. In the last 24 hours, no person has been hospitalised,” the health ministry said.

Kaunain Sheriff M

Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies. With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health. His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award. Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time. Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:
vaccine

Loading Taboola...

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, unaffected by tariff row, hal unaffected by tariff row, Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Mk 1A, D K Sunil, Indian express news, current affairs

Fighter engine talks with US are on, unaffected by tariff row: HAL chief

India3 hr ago

HAL Chairman and Managing Director D K Sunil assures that the government's recent order for 97 Tejas Mk 1A is a vote of confidence, despite the delay in delivering the initial order of 83 aircraft. He addresses concerns about the supply chain and negotiations with GE for F414 engines.

View all shorts

Live Blog