As India began its nationwide vaccination drive against Covid-19, Maharashtra recorded 14 cases of adverse events, none of them fatal, on Day 1 of the vaccination rollout in the state. State officials are currently studying the cases.
Over 14,000 beneficiaries, about 50 per cent of those supposed to be vaccinated on Day 1 received the shots on Saturday. Frontline workers, doctors and Serum Institute’s CEO, Adar Poonawalla were among the first people to get injected with the vaccines. Follow Covid-19 Live Updates here
Out of the two vaccines approved for restricted emergency use — Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin — apprehensions have been expressed for the latter, as it is yet to complete its late-stage human trials and no efficacy data has been made public.
Maharashtra has distributed about 20,000 dosages of Covaxin in about 6 centres of the state. The state administration reduced Covaxin’s vaccination centres from previously planner 9 to 6 on the Union health ministry’s direction.
Bharat Biotech, which is supposed to supply 55 lakh doses of its vaccine to the Centre, said that the company will pay compensation in case of any serious adverse effects experienced by recipients.
For the inoculation drive, 285 centres have been designated across Maharashtra where 100 healthcare workers will be administered with shots in a day. On Day 1 , the state aimed to cover 28,500 workers.
Maharashtra has so far received 60 per cent or 10 lakh doses and the remaining will be available in the next 10 days, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said after attending the vaccination drive in Jalna.
In the world’s largest inoculation drive, India will administer shots to 3 crore frontline workers in phase one. There are 3,006 session sites across the country, where 100 beneficiaries each will be given either of India’s two indigenous vaccines. Every beneficiary will need to receive two doses of the same vaccine, 28 days apart.
2021-01-16 04:30:50