A medic show a vial containing doses of Covishield vaccine during a countrywide inoculation drive against the coronavirus
The Covid-19 vaccination drive in India has gathered pace as the government has allowed people above the age of 60 and those in the 45-59 age group with co-morbidities to take the drugs. According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India has crossed 1.77 crore. This includes nearly 11 lakh vaccine doses that were given till 7 pm on Thursday, the forty-eighth day of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated and vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) starting from February 2. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March for those above 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions.
Earlier in January, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had granted approvals to two vaccine candidates against infections of the novel coronavirus. They are Covishield and Covaxin. The Serum Institute of India is manufacturing Covishield which is the Oxford-AstraZeneca ChAdOx-1 vaccine by another name. The second one is Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin which the Hyderabad-based company has jointly developed with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
A total of 1,77,11,287 vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till Thursday 7 pm. These include 68,38,077 healthcare workers, who have taken the first dose and 30,82,942 healthcare workers who have taken the second dose, 60,22,136 frontline workers (first dose), 54,177 FLWs (second dose), 14,95,016 beneficiaries over 60 years and 2,18,939 individuals aged 45 and above with specific comorbidities, the ministry said.
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A total of 10,93,954 vaccine doses were given till 7 pm on Thursday, the forty-eighth day of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.
"Out of which, 8,34,141 beneficiaries were vaccinated for first dose and 2,59,813 HCWs and FLWs received second dose of vaccine as per the provisional report," the ministry said, adding that final reports would be completed for the day by late night.
A total of 8,34,141 beneficiaries include 4,93,999 people aged over 60 years and 75,147 individuals aged between 45-60 with specified comorbidities.
(With PTI Inputs)
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