NEW DELHI: The total number of
beneficiaries vaccinated against
Covid-19 crossed 16 lakh on Sunday with Karnataka inoculating the highest number of healthcare workers so far at over 1.91 lakh, followed by Odisha (1.52 lakh) and
Andhra Pradesh (1.47 lakh).
On Sunday, only five states – Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu conducted vaccination sessions. The provisional data compiled by
health ministry showed 31,466 beneficiaries were vaccinated in 693 sessions held in these states till 6:30 pm on the ninth day. Only 10 adverse events after immunization were reported on Sunday.
“Final reports would be completed for the day by late tonight,” the health ministry said.
So far, 16,13,667 beneficiaries have been inoculated against Covid-19 since the vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with two vaccines –
Oxford University and AstraZeneca developed
Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin – both of which are being manufactured locally.
The government aims to vaccinate three crore health and frontline workers in the first round which is likely to be completed by March-April.
In the next round ‘priority’ population groups including those above 50 years age and those younger but with co-morbidities will be covered. Once the supply of vaccines improves, the government may also start inoculating the priority groups simultaneously.