With the vaccination of 3,31,029 beneficiaries on Friday, India completed 50 lakh (5 million) Covid-19 vaccinations in 21 days and has become the fastest country to do so, said the Union Health Ministry.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Union Health Ministry, said, “A total of 3,31,029 beneficiaries were vaccinated today. As of February 5, 2021, by 6 pm, a total of 52,90,474 beneficiaries have been vaccinated for Covid-19 and for which a total of 1,04,781 sessions have been held.”
“We completed 50 lakh vaccinations in 21 days. In the US it took 24 days, 43 days in the UK and 45 days in Israel. Hence, India is the fastest to reach 5 million vaccinations in the world,” he added.
Commenting upon the adverse event following immunisation (AEFI), Agnani said, “A total of 27 hospitalisation till date has been reported, no new case of hospitalisation was recorded in 24 hours. With one death in the last 24 hours, the total death reported till date is 22. None of these deaths has been casually linked to Covid-19 vaccination. No case of serious/severe AEFI/Death attributable to vaccination till date.”
The Covid-19 vaccination has been rolled out in the country from 16 January 2021, in a phased manner starting with prioritised groups of Health Care Workers (HCWs) and frontline workers. The roll-out is being done simultaneously across all states and UTs.
In the meantime, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said that the third phase of Covid-19 vaccination, in which people above 50 years of age will be vaccinated, is expected to start next month.
Replying to queries in the Lok Sabha, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that Rs 35,000 crore has been provided for Covid-19 vaccines in the Union Budget 2021-22 and the Finance Minister has assured that allocation can increase if required. He said Covid-19 vaccination drive was launched on 16 January to vaccinate one crore healthcare workers in the first phase and it is going on smoothly.
“The second phase started in different parts of the country from February 2 in which vaccine is being administered to frontline workers whose numbers are estimated to be around two crores. After the completion of phase 1 and phase 2, it is possible that in the next month, the third phase will start in which citizens over 50 (years) will be vaccinated across the country,” he said.
“It is difficult to announce any fixed date (for the third phase) right now but it is expected that the third phase of the vaccination drive will start in the second, third or fourth week of March,” he added.
Asked if the government was contemplating providing subsidy to vaccines which will be available in the market, the minister said National Expert Group on Vaccine has been constituted and it will take the relevant decisions.