BackCovid vaccination: Harsh Vardhan to get jab today, 4.27 lakh doses given in phase 2 - Top developments
Thousands of people queued up at government and private medical facilities across the country as India began the second phase of the vaccination drive at 9 am Monday
PremiumUnion Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is likely to take the Covid-19 vaccine shot on Tuesday. Vardhan is going to take the jab at Delhi Heart and Lung Institute, an official release said.
"Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, along with his wife Smt Nutan will take the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine. At: Delhi Heart and Lung Institute. At: 11am. On: March 2, 2021 (Tuesday)...," the statement from the health ministry read.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the second phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the country by getting a dose of the home-grown Covaxin.
The country has now expanded its vaccination campaign to inoculate around 27 crore people including everyone above 60 and over 45 but with co-morbidities.
'No evidence to link surge in cases to new strains'
This is amid a recent spurt in Covid-19 cases in a few states - most notably Maharashtra and Kerala - and amid concerns over mutated variants of the killer virus.
The Union Health Minister said the data at this stage indicated no link between new Covid-19 strains and the spike in infections, which he attributed to easing off on required restrictions like maintaining social distancing.
"The increase in the number of cases - in Maharashtra, Kerala or any other state - has nothing to do with the new Covid strains, either Brazilian, South African or from the UK," Vardhan said, adding, "I am hopeful things are going to settle down and the recent spurt is not a permanent thing."
Day 45 of Covid vaccination
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, day 45 of the Covid-19 vaccination concluded successfully with over 4.27 lakh people being inoculated, including top leaders like PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and others.
The cumulative number of coronavirus vaccine shots administered in the country crossed 1.47 crore on Monday, as per a Health Ministry statement.
On Day 1 of the drive, 25 lakh potential beneficiaries registered on the Co-Win portal to get vaccination. Out of this, 24.5 lakh are citizens and the rest are Healthcare Workers (HCWs) and Frontline Workers (FLWs).
A total of 1,47,28,569 vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till 7 pm on Monday.
These include 66,95,665 HCWs who have taken the first dose and 25,57,837 HCWs who have taken the second dose, 53,27,587 FLWs (first dose), 1,28,630 beneficiaries more than 60 years old and 18,850 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities, it added.
Glitches in COWIN portal mar Day 1
Registration for the Covid-19 vaccine shots can be done either via the CoWIN web portal or the Aarogya Setu app, with people given a choice of the facility (government or private) from which to get the jab.
However, many people said that they were unable to book appointments. The platforms were accepting registrations but not allotting appointments at private facilities.
Amid reports of glitches and some people saying they were finding it difficult to navigate the Co-WIN 2.0 app to register and book an appointment, the Health ministry had clarified saying the app on the Play Store is meant for use only by administrators. Registration and booking for appointments have to be done through the portal, it said.
The vaccines were given at 10,000 government centres (free of cost) and 20,000 private ones (capped at ₹250 per shot).
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