The government is vaccinating the three-crore healthcare and other frontline workers on priority (File)
Over 1.77 lakh people were vaccinated against the coronavirus on the fourth day of the inoculation drive, the Union Health Ministry said in a statement today. A total of over 6.31 lakh beneficiaries has been vaccinated so far under the world's largest inoculation campaign, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week.
"The cumulative number of healthcare workers vaccinated against COVID-19 has touched 6,31,417 (till 6 PM today) through 11,660 sessions, as per the provisional report. 3,800 sessions were held till 6 PM today," the statement read.
The centre had yesterday said 580 cases of adverse reactions were found and seven people were hospitalized. On Tuesday, it didn't release the adverse reactions' figure but said nine people have been in hospitals after getting vaccinated since the drive began on January 16.
"A total of only nine AEFI have required hospitalization. In Delhi, three cases have been discharged whereas one case is under observation at Rajiv Gandhi, Hospital Shahdara. One more AEFI case from Uttarakhand has been discharged. In Karnataka, one person is discharged and another person is stable and under observation at District Hospital, Chitradurga. In Chhattisgarh also, one person is discharged. In Rajasthan, one case of suspected anaphylaxis is fine and under observation at District Hospital, Bangar," it said in the statement.
The World Health Organisation defines AEFI or Adverse Events Following Immunisation as any untoward medical occurrence which follows immunisation and does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine.
The government is vaccinating the three-crore healthcare and other frontline workers on priority. People above the age of 50 and those with co-morbidities will be inoculated next.
The country's drug regulator has approved two vaccines for emergency use – Oxford-Serum Institute's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. While the vaccine being manufactured by the Serum Institute has shown over 70 percent effectiveness, Bharat Biotech has not presented any efficacy data for its vaccine so far.
Bharat Biotech on Monday warned in a fact-sheet that those who have weaker immunity or are on a medicine that affects their immune system and people with allergies must not take the vaccine.