- First phase of the nationwide Covid immunisation drive began on January 16 benefiting over 2 lakh people
- 447 cases of adverse events following immunisation were reported, 3 required hospitalisation
- Union Health Ministry’s Additional Secretary Agnani says that such cases are unexpected and may not be related to the vaccine
THD NewsDesk, New Delhi: As the world’s largest Covid immunisation commenced in India, a total of 2,24,301 benefited from the inoculation. While the first phase of the immunisation drive has been partially successful, there have been 447 cases of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) were reported. Out of the total 447, only three have been reported to require hospitalisation.
On January 18, the second day of the nationwide Covid immunisation drive, Union ministry’s Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani said at a press briefing,
“Today being Sunday, only six states conducted vaccination drive and in 553 sessions a total of 17,072 beneficiaries were vaccinated”.
As of now, the drive has been carried out in six states namely Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur and Tamil Nadu, he added. Emphasising that the number of inoculations in India on the first day were higher in India than in the US, UK or France, Agnani stated,
“A total of 447 AEFI have been reported on January 16 and 17, out of which only three required hospitalisation. Most of the AEFI reported so far are minor like fever, headache, nausea“.
“Protocols are also in place for systematic investigation and causality assessment of serious AEFI (cases),” he said, explaining that only few such cases require hospitalisation.
Further, Agnani informed that three people who were victims of side effects of the vaccine were discharged from the Northern Railway Hospital and AIIMS in Delhi while one is still under observation in AIIMS Rishikesh currently.
Quelling rumours around the vaccines, Agnani clarified that AEFI cases are unexpected medical occurrences which could follow immunisation. It could or could not have any relation with the vaccine.
Moreover, Agnani informed at the press release that a meeting was held with all states and union territories on January 17 to review the huge scale vaccination drive. The review meeting was aimed at identifying obstacles and coming up with remedial actions accordingly. Additionally, the state governments and UTs have been suggested that they plan COVID-19 vaccination sessions four days in the coming week to allow minimal disruption of routine health services. Few states have already made their weekly vaccination days public.
In the following week, the vaccination drive will be carried out only six days a week in Andhra Pradesh and five days a week in Mizoram.
The drive will be carried out:
- 4 days a week in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
- 3 days a week in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nagaland and Odisha
- 2 days a week in Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
The countrywide vaccination drive that began on January 16 has been expected to be the first step towards combating the pandemic substantially. Inaugurating the first phase of the vaccine roll-out, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the two vaccines will ensure a “decisive victory” for India against the pandemic. Currently, the immunisation drive has been divided into three phases – first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers and around two crore frontline workers, then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.
Source – New Indian Express