COVID-19: 17,072 beneficiaries vaccinated today, Health Ministry issues weekly schedule of states, UTs

On the second day of the pan-India inoculation drive, as many as 17,072 beneficiaries were vaccinated against COVID-19 at 553 sessions in six states of the country on Sunday, said the Union Health Ministry.

On the second day of the pan-India inoculation drive, as many as 17,072 beneficiaries were vaccinated against COVID-19 at 553 sessions in six states of the country on Sunday, said the Union Health Ministry. The Ministry also announced the weekly vaccination days for states to carry out COVID-19 vaccination drive.

"In 553 sessions, a total of 17,072 beneficiaries were vaccinated today. A total of 2,24,301 beneficiaries have been vaccinated so far," said Dr Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Health Ministry during a press conference here. "Today being Sunday, only six states conducted coronavirus vaccination drive," he added.

According to the Ministry, 308 sessions were held in Andhra Pradesh, 165 in Tamil Nadu, 64 in Karnataka, 14 in Arunachal Pradesh and one each in Kerala and Manipur. The Health Ministry stated that a total of 2,07,229 people were vaccinated on day one, the highest day one vaccination number in the world and higher than the US, UK and France on day one. Dr Manohar Agnani said that a total of 447 cases of AEFI (Adverse event following immunization) were reported on January 16 and 17 of which "only three required hospitalisation".

The Ministry has advised states/UTs to plan COVID vaccination sessions 4 days in a week to minimize disruption of Routine Health Services. The plan is as follows: Billed as the world's largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first vaccinate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

The central government has introduced an application named CoWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work) to monitor the entire vaccination process. Two vaccines--Covaxin and Covishield-- have received Emergency Use Authorisation (EAU) after going through established safety and immunogenicity in a well-prescribed regulatory process and these will be administered during the vaccination drive. (ANI)

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