New Delhi: At least 447 persons reported adverse effects after covid-19 vaccination with majority complaining fever, headache and nausea, according to the provisional data of ongoing vaccination drive.
An Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) is any unexpected medical occurrence which follows immunization which may not be related to vaccine or vaccination process.
India has granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) to two covid-19 vaccines -- Pune-based Serum Institute of India’s Covishield and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Ltd’s Covaxin which are being used in the government’s vaccination drive.
“A total of 447 AEFI have been reported so far. Out of these, three required hospitalization. Of these, one has been discharged from Northern Railway Hospital Delhi within 24 hours; one has been discharged from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi; and one is under observation in AIIMS Rishikesh and is being monitored,” said Manohar Agnani, additional secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The government however hasn’t given any details about the adverse reactions happened for which particular vaccine.
“Protocols are in place for reporting, immediate case management at vaccination session site, transportation and hospitalization and further care of such cases. Protocols are also in place for systematic investigation and causality assessment of serious AEFIs,” he said.
A total of 553 sessions were held in six States --Andhra Pradesh (308), Arunachal Pradesh (14), Karnataka (64), Kerala (1), Manipur (1) and Tamil Nadu (165) --with 17,072 beneficiaries vaccinated on Sunday, the second day of the countrywide covid-19 vaccination program. “India has vaccinated the highest number of persons on first day under its covid-19 vaccination program, the world’s largest such exercise. This is much higher than many other countries such as USA, the UK and France. Total of 2,24,301 beneficiaries have been vaccinated till today as per the provisional report,” said Agnani.
“States/UTs have been advised to plan covid-19 vaccination sessions four days in a week to minimize disruption of the Routine Health Services. Some States have already publicized their weekly vaccination days,” said Agnani. The union health ministry also convened a meeting with all States on Sunday to review the progress, identification of bottle-necks and to plan corrective actions as the vaccination program moves ahead.
While India has started the covid-19 vaccination, the burden of the highly infectious disease continues to rise in the country. India current number of active cases remained 2,08,826 on Sunday that share 1.98%. of the total cases.
In the last 24 hours, 15,144 daily cases were recorded with 81% of the new cases are from 8 States and UTs. Kerala continues to report the highest daily new cases at 5,960. It is followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with 2,910 and 610 new cases, respectively, the union health ministry. Six States & UTs have reported 66.30% of the 181 case fatalities in the past 24 hours. Maharashtra has reported 52 deaths. Kerala saw a fatality count of 27 while West Bengal reported 15 new deaths, the government said. The total number of covid-19 cases rose to 1,05, 60,536 and the toll mounted to 1,53,524 on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the nationwide covid-19 vaccination drive virtually billing it as the “world’s largest vaccination program” covering the entire length and breadth of the country. The covid-19 vaccine will be offered first to healthcare workers, frontline workers and to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities based on evolving pandemic situation, and finally to the remaining population based on the disease epidemiology and vaccine availability, according to the operational guidelines for covid-19 vaccination issued by the union health ministry. The first phase is ongoing in which over 3 crores healthcare workers and frontline workers will be vaccinated for free.
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