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Covid vaccine: Over 2.24 lakh people get jabs in 2 days, 447 adverse events

Covid vaccine: Over 2.24 lakh people get jabs in 2 days, 447 adverse events
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New Delhi, Jan 18 (PTI) Over 2.24 lakh people were given COVID-19 vaccine in two days in India, and 447 adverse events, including three requiring hospitalisation, have been reported, the Centre said on Sunday.

Of the three people hospitalised post-vaccination, two have been discharged from the Northern Railway Hospital and AIIMS in Delhi and one is under observation at AIIMS, Rishikesh and is doing fine, it said.

As many as 2,07,229 beneficiaries received the jabs on Saturday, the highest number of people vaccinated in any country on day one, Additional Secretary in the Union Health Ministry, Manohar Agnani, said.

“Today being Sunday, only six states conducted vaccination drive and in 553 sessions a total of 17,072 beneficiaries were vaccinated,” he said.

He said a total of 2,24,301 beneficiaries have been vaccinated till January 17 as per provisional reports.

“A total of 447 AEFI (adverse event following immunisation) have been reported on January 16 and 17, out of which only three required hospitalisation. Most of the AEFI reported so far are minor like fever, headache, nausea,” the official said.

He said an AEFI may or may not be related to the vaccine or vaccination process.

Noting that only a few AEFI cases may require hospitalisation which are classified under serious AEFI, Agnani said protocols are in place for reporting, immediate case management at vaccination session site, transportation and hospitalisation and further care of such cases.

The states and UTs have been advised to plan COVID-19 vaccination sessions four days a week to minimise disruption of routine health services and some states have already publicised their weekly vaccination days, he said.

Around 50 percent of intended beneficiaries have taken the jab in Delhi, Assam and Andhra Pradesh, local officials said and expressed the hope that the vaccination drive will pick up soon.

Under the nationwide mega vaccination drive launched on Saturday, a total of 4,319 (53 percent) health workers against a target of 8,117 were administered the vaccines at 81 centres across the national capital, officials said.

The Delhi government will now take measures like counselling and formal phone calls in the coming days to encourage people to take the COVID-19 vaccines, they said.

“Some people decided not to turn up at the last moment. The vaccination programme is completely voluntary. We cannot ask anyone to compulsorily take the shot even if the person has registered for it,” Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said.

He also said that the number of vaccination centres in Delhi will be increased from 81 to 175 soon.

In Assam, 6,500 beneficiaries were to be vaccinated on the first day of the inoculation drive on Saturday, but 3,528 turned up.

“Many things had to be put in place and the system is evolving but we are sure it will gather momentum in the next five to ten days.

“Many of the beneficiaries did not turn up while many others, whose names were not on the list for the first day, came to the selected sites,” National Health Mission Director of the state S Lakshmanan said.

As per the Andhra Pradesh health department data, in the first two days 32,149 people got vaccinated against the target of 58,803.

Asked about it, a health official said the numbers would increase slowly.

Only 13,041 healthcare workers got the COVID-19 vaccine administered across the state against the targeted 27,233 on Sunday.

The Uttar Pradesh government said the rest of the health workers will get vaccinated by January 22 in the state. A total of 20,076 healthcare workers got their first jabs in UP on Saturday.

In West Bengal, a controversy erupted after the BJP alleged that several ruling Trinamool Congress leaders, including two MLAs, were administered COVID-19 vaccines meant for frontline workers, resulting in a shortfall of doses in the state.

Many healthcare workers in the state had alleged that they could not get the jab though they were asked to come for it.

“The vaccines sent by the central government are for healthcare staffers, police personnel and other frontline workers who are serving the society in the pandemic situation. Nearly 3.5 crore vials were dispatched by the Centre across the country. These doses are not meant for political leaders.

“If these vaccines were taken by some TMC leaders, there would be a shortfall,” BJP state unit president Dilip Ghosh told reporters.

Some TMC leaders are so scared for their lives that they jumped the gun, violating the norms, he said.

The Centre is targeting to vaccinate over three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase of the inoculation drive for free.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had on Saturday alleged “inadequate” supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to the state for the programme.

The saffron party’s only agenda is to “carry out personal attacks in the run-up to the assembly polls, TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said on Sunday, reacting to BJP allegations.

Elections to the 294-member Bengal assembly are due in April-May.

The six states where the vaccination drive was carried out on Sunday are Andhra Pradesh (308 sessions), Arunachal Pradesh (14 sessions), Karnataka (64 sessions), Kerala (one session), Manipur (one session) and Tamil Nadu (165 sessions).

Agnani said a meeting was held with all states and union territories on Sunday to review the progress of the drive, identify bottlenecks and plan corrective actions.

The drive will be carried out four days a week in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

He said the vaccination drive will be carried out six days a week in Andhra Pradesh and five days a week in Mizoram.

It will be carried out three days a week in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nagaland and Odisha, and two days a week in Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the world’s largest inoculation drive against COVID-19 on Saturday and said the two vaccines being deployed will ensure a “decisive victory” for India against the pandemic.

India has approved for emergency use Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

According to the government, the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.

 

 


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