Covaxin, one of the two vaccines to which the Drug Controller General of India gave the final approval for restricted emergency use, will be administered to people in seven more states from next week, the health ministry said on Saturday.
As many as 12 states are already using the vaccine. In addition to these, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal will start administering the vaccine, additional secretary in the Union health ministry Manohar Agnani said while addressing a press conference.
"The orientation of all programme managers of these seven states was conducted today by the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) and the health ministry covering all aspects of implementation protocols," he said.
Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, is the other vaccine currently being administered to people in India. Covaxin was developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Virology and it is India's first indigenously-developed vaccine.
"As on January 23, a total of 15,37,190 beneficiaries have been vaccinated for Covid-19 in 27,776 sessions," Agnani said, adding that as many as 1,46,598 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 6pm on Saturday and 123 adverse event following immunisation were reported on the eighth day of the vaccination drive.
{{/usCountry}}"As on January 23, a total of 15,37,190 beneficiaries have been vaccinated for Covid-19 in 27,776 sessions," Agnani said, adding that as many as 1,46,598 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 6pm on Saturday and 123 adverse event following immunisation were reported on the eighth day of the vaccination drive.
{{/usCountry}}The vaccination drive was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16 with over three crore healthcare and frontline workers prioritised to get the jabs initially.