According to the Union Health Ministry, India has become the fastest country in the world to achieve over 70 lakh vaccinations against COVID-19 in only 26 days. The bulletin released on Thursday, 11 February points out that it took the United States of America (USA) 27 days to reach 70 lakhs and the United Kingdom (UK) reached the figure in 48 days.
Of the total 74,30,866 vaccinated individuals, 57,90,832 are healthcare workers (HCWs) and 16,40,034 are frontline workers (FLWs), the ministry said. A total of 1,53,799 sessions have been conducted so far.
Several Indian states began vaccinating its frontline workers last week. The first phase of vaccination was around one crore health workers of government and private clinics. The second phase was meant to inoculate two crore frontline workers.
The Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan told the Lok Sabha on Friday, 5 February, that India will begin vaccinating its third priority group of those who are 50 years and above from March. This group consists of 27 crore people. While the minister has maintained that COVID-19 vaccination is on track, not all states are on the same level.
States Performing Well
According to the MoH, 13 states/UTs have vaccinated over 65 percent of the registered healthcare workers.
Bihar topped the country with 79.4 percent COVID-19 vaccinations according to the data released by the Centre. Tripura is in the second position with 77.8 percent while Madhya Pradesh comes in third with 76 percent.
Several states have moved on into the second phase of vaccinations have started vaccinating FLWs. Odisha, for instance, started to vaccinate its FLWs (police, armed forces and municipal workers) from Saturday, 6 February.
Odisha has also started inoculating administrative officers in an effort to boost confidence in the people. The Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra was the first IAS officer in the state to get inoculated against COVID-19.
The national capital saw a slow start to the vaccination drive but picked up pace rapidly in a week after it allowed walk-in vaccination. The Delhi government has also announced its plans of increasing vaccination centres in the state.
Maharashtra, the state worst affected by the virus, has recorded over 50 percent attendance in vaccinations after an initial hiccup in the first week because of a glitch in the software. Mumbai has seen a high percentage of walk-in appointments in the state.
Despite bad roads and poor internet connectivity, north-eastern states of Assam and Tripura have managed to keep the inoculation drive going.
States Requiring Improvement
As per the 7 States/UTs have reported less than 40 percent vaccinations of the registered HCWs. Of the seven, the UT of Puducherry has recorded the lowest vaccination performance of 17.5 percent.
Tamil Nadu and Kerala have also been recording low turnouts, especially in younger healthcare professionals. Their southern counterparts - Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh topped the charts in the initial days of the vaccination drive but regularly fall short of the target of the day. On 9 February, only 22 percent frontline workers turned up for the jab in Karnataka.
A report in The Times of India said that “more than 25,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have gone waste following low turnout at vaccination centres across Tamil Nadu.” Doctors and virologist have suggested utilising the absentee doses for the elderly.
Other states/UTs with a low turnout for vaccination are Nagaland, Manipur, Punjab and Chandigarh.
Both Covaxin and Covishiled vaccines have come in 10 or 20 dose vials and have to be used up within 4 hours of opening them. The approved shelf life of the vaccines is also for six months. Therefore, the vaccines need to be administered fast so that none of the previous vials is wasted.
Another reason for low turnout has been the glitches in the Co-WIN app. The app is used to register the candidate, inform them about the vaccination dates and centre, and also create a vaccination certificate after they’ve received two doses.
Adverse Events Following Immunisation
As per the latest press release, about 47 Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) were reported on 11 February.
According to the Centre, a total of 30 people have been hospitalised after taking the jab, 19 of whom have been discharged after receiving treatment. Two people are still under treatment while nine persons died.
So far, 23 deaths have been recorded, however, no case of serious/severe AEFI or death is attributable to vaccination so far, the Ministry said on Wednesday. 10 February.
Meanwhile, a total of 9,309 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours in the country and 15,858 new recoveries were registered in the same period. The total recovered cases have surged to 1,08,80,603. The ministry reported that 87 deaths were recorded in a span of 24 hours.
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