COVID vaccination: Over 24,000 beneficiaries receive shots; turnout 80% in Delhi

On Wednesday, 15,337 people were vaccinated, out of whom 1,072 were those who had got their second dose.

PTI
February 19, 2021 / 09:52 AM IST

Representative image: Reuters

Coronavirus vaccine shots were administered to over 24,000 beneficiaries in Delhi, including 3,537 people who got their second dose, as the inoculation drive picked up pace with a marked improved turnout of 80 percent, according to data shared by officials.

On Wednesday, 15,337 people were vaccinated, out of whom 1,072 were those who had got their second dose.

On Thursday, the number of total beneficiaries who got vaccinated rose to 24,417, with an overall turnout of about 80 per cent spread across 302 vaccination centres, according to official data.

Out of these, 3,537 were those who got their second dose on Thursday, officials said.

The vaccination drive, that started on January 16, has picked up pace in the last one week, and on Monday, 2,191 healthcare workers who had received their first shots four weeks ago, had got their second dose.

COVID-19 Vaccine

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

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Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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"Thirteen minor cases of AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) were reported," the official said.

Under the nationwide mega vaccination drive launched on January 16, a total of 4,319 (53 per cent) health workers against a target of 8,117, were administered the shots at 81 centres across the city on day one.

As per doctors, the second dose is to be given to a beneficiary after a gap of 28 days.

On Saturday, a total of 13,768 beneficiaries received vaccine shots and administering of the second dose to healthcare workers who had received the first jab 28 days ago also began.

On the second scheduled day after the roll-out of the exercise on January 16, the figures had stood at 3,598 (44 per cent of the target). The sharp fall had come after one severe and 50 minor adverse effect cases were reported on the opening day of the vaccination drive.

The count on the third scheduled day was much higher at 4,936 (48 per cent).

No fresh death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on Wednesday, the third time single-day fatality count stood nil in February, while 134 new cases took the tally to 6,37,315, according to data shared by authorities.

The district-wise distribution of total 13 AEFI cases on Thursday was - Central Delhi (2), East Delhi (1), New Delhi (3), Northwest Delhi (0), North East Delhi (0), North West Delhi (1), Shahdara (1), South Delhi (1), South East Delhi (0), South West Delhi (1) and West Delhi (3), according to the data shared by authorities.
PTI
TAGS: #coronavirus #Covid-19 #Current Affairs #India
first published: Feb 19, 2021 09:34 am