Coronavirus update: India leads globally with average of more than 34 lakh doses given per day

These include 89,68,151 healthcare workers (HCWs) and 97,67,538 frontline workers (FLWs) who have taken the first dose and 54,18,084 HCWs and 44,11,609 FLWs who have taken the second dose.

Moneycontrol News
April 08, 2021 / 12:57 PM IST

Vaccine

With an average of 34,30,502 anti-coronavirus doses being given per day, India has topped globally in terms of the number of jabs administered daily, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. Cumulatively, 9,01,98,673 vaccine doses have been given so far through 13,77,304 sessions, according to a provisional report till 7 am.

These include 89,68,151 healthcare workers (HCWs) and 97,67,538 frontline workers (FLWs) who have taken the first dose and 54,18,084 HCWs and 44,11,609 FLWs who have taken the second dose.

Besides, 3,63,32,851 and 11,39,291 beneficiaries above 60 years have been administered the first and second dose respectively.

According to the ministry's data, 2,36,94,487 and 4,66,662 beneficiaries aged 45 to 60 years have been given the first and second dose respectively.

"In terms of the number of daily doses administered globally, India stands at the top with an average of 34,30,502 doses administered per day," the ministry said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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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.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

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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Eight states -- Maharashtra, Rajastha, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala -- account for 60 per cent of the total doses given so far in the country.

"In its collective and collaborative fight against the global pandemic, India has crossed a landmark milestone under the world's largest vaccination drive, which was launched on January 16 this year," the ministry said.

"The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 9 crore," it said.

Nearly 30 lakh vaccination doses were given in a span of 24 hours.

As on day-82 of the vaccination drive (April 7, 2021), 29,79,292 vaccine doses were given. Out of which, 26,90,031 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 38,760 sessions for the first dose and 2,89,261 beneficiaries received the second dose of vaccine.

(With PTI inputs)
Moneycontrol News
TAGS: #coronavirus #Covid-19 #Current Affairs #India #vaccine
first published: Apr 8, 2021 12:53 pm