The “world’s largest vaccination drive” enters day 4 today. 4.54 lakh people from priority groups have been vaccinated across India until now. India has also reported daily cases below 20,000 from the last 10 days. Currently, the number of active cases in India is around 2 lakh, that is, less than 2% of the total cases. The daily number of deaths has also been lowest at 140 after 8 months
Out of the total inoculated population around 580 cases of Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) have been reported, that is, beneficiaries have reported side effects after taking the vaccine which include headache, nausea and fever. Among these, 8 have been hospitalized due to severe reactions and 2 cases of death had been reported. However after post mortem the death of one of the two individuals it has been found that the individual had died of a cardiac arrest and not due to the vaccine. The reports on the reason of death of the second individual are awaited.
There have been different turnouts in vaccine centers across states. Highest vaccine compliance has been observed in Andaman and Nicobar (94%), Arunachal (92%), Telangana (87%), Odhisha (85%) and Rajasthan (74%). Kerala and Tamil Nadu have shown “vaccine hesitancy” as less than 25% of the priority groups have been vaccinated in these states. Punjab and Chhattisgarh have also reflected “poor coverage”. Meanwhile, Maharashtra is going to start its vaccine drive from today as the state couldn’t begin from Saturday due to technical issues in the Co-Win app.
Also Read: Delhi schools re-open for Class 10 & 12 students; schools asked to carry out proper safety measures
Also Read: SC on Farmer’s tractor rally plea: Delhi Police to decide on entry
Bharat Biotech has warned people with underlying medical conditions and allergies to report any health-related issues to their vaccination officer and not administer Covaxin, which has been developed by them.
In another development India is to “gift” 2 million doses of Covishield vaccine to Bangladesh on 20th January. India will also supply Covishield to Nepal for free and Bhutan Prime Minister has also confirmed that the Indian government will provide COVID-19 vaccines to the country free of cost.
