Six states carried out roughly 17,000 more vaccines against the coronavirus on Sunday, the Union Health Ministry said, setting the total number of immunizations at 224,301 since the process began Saturday morning.
According to officials, among the 207,229 who received doses on the first day, three people, or 0.0014%, had significant side effects. Of these three, two were hospitalized overnight and released the following day, while one remained in the hospital until Sunday night.
“None of the three had serious adverse reactions after immunization. Most of them had fever, headache, nausea, etc. Only three people out of all who had experienced adverse reactions had to be hospitalized, of which two have already been given. discharged, “said Manohar Agnani, additional secretary of the Ministry of Health, while updating himself on the Covid-19 vaccination campaign that began in the country on Saturday.
Overall, a total of 447 adverse events after vaccination (AEFI) were reported and the majority were mild side effects such as headache, nausea, and low-grade fever.
The three who had significant side effects were vaccinated at the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, the Northern Railways Hospital in the capital, and AIIMS, Rishikesh. The beneficiary at the Rishikesh facility had not yet been discharged.
According to independent officials from each of these facilities, who asked not to be identified, AIIMS Delhi used Covaxin from Bharat Biotech, while the other two facilities used Covishield from the Serum Institute of India. Across the country, a vast majority of vaccinations performed on Saturday were with the Covishield vaccine, as it has one of the largest volumes of ready stock.
“There is an established protocol to deal with adverse events after immunization that will be followed in all centers that carry out vaccination sessions. There are also protocols for systemic investigation and causality assessment of severe EFIEs, which do not end with the recipient’s hospitalization, but must be established if the reaction occurred due to vaccination or something else, ”Agnani said.
According to the ministry, most post-immunization adverse events (AEFI) are minor in nature: pain, mild swelling at the injection site, mild fever, body aches, nausea, dizziness, and mild allergic reactions such as rashes, etc. .
In Delhi, the state health minister said that a large number of health workers who had been registered and identified for vaccinations on the first day did not show up and that the administration will make efforts to encourage them to get vaccinated.
“We will hold counseling sessions to raise awareness so that the arrests of health workers can be dispelled. They will also be called by phone to request confirmation and also to encourage them to come forward for vaccines,” said a senior official from the government of Delhi. he said, asking not to be identified.
On Saturday, only 53% of the 8,117 registered healthcare workers scheduled for vaccines showed up.
“Some people decided not to show up at the last minute. The vaccination program is completely voluntary. We cannot ask anyone to inject compulsorily, even if the person has registered for it, ”Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said earlier in the day, adding that those who miss their appointments will get a second chance. .
The Union Health Ministry official said the Center has recommended that states hold vaccination sessions four days a week to avoid disruption of routine health services.
While all states participated in the Covid-19 vaccination campaign on Saturday, only six states did so on Sunday. In all, 17,072 more healthcare workers were vaccinated Sunday at 553 sites.
The six that carried out the vaccinations on Sunday are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur and Tamil Nadu.
States across the country have already disclosed their weekly schedules and on days when there are holidays or routine immunization drives planned, Covid-19 vaccines will not be administered.
Andhra Pradesh has opted for vaccinations six days a week because it has a robust system of a separate box to perform routine immunization, the Union Health Ministry official said. Some states have also spent less than four days to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“The states that have decided to do vaccination sessions twice a week is mainly because they have a small cohort of people who need to be vaccinated and those who participate in the vaccination activity, such as Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh,” said Agnani .
The country achieved the most Covid-19 vaccines on the first day in the world, the official added.
“It is higher than the United States, the United Kingdom and France on the first day. Today the Center has held meetings with the states and territories of the Union to review progress and identify bottlenecks to plan corrective measures, “he added.
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