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Need to vaccinate more beneficiaries against Covid-19, says Union minister
India has so far administered more than 3.93 crore vaccine doses against the disease of which 3,24,26,230 beneficiaries have been given the first doses and the remaining 69,13,587 have been administered with both first and second doses, according to the Union health ministry’s update at 7am.
Minister of state for health Ashwini Choubey said on Friday that there is a need to vaccinate more beneficiaries against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and raise awareness about the vaccine among citizens. Echoing Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan’s remarks, Choubey urged people to get themselves vaccinated without any fear. Addressing the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, Vardhan said that no one should have any doubts about the vaccines Covishield and Covaxin, adding they are completely safe.
“Nearly 4 crore people have been vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccine so far. This needs to be increased. There is a need to raise awareness among people. Take the vaccine dose. No need to panic. Wherever Covid-19 cases are increasing, state governments need to take the situation seriously,” Choubey was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
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India has so far administered more than 3.93 crore vaccine doses against the disease of which 3,24,26,230 beneficiaries have been given the first doses and the remaining 69,13,587 have been administered with both first and second doses, according to the health ministry’s update at 7am. The Centre started the first phase of nationwide vaccination drive from January 16 for inoculating all healthcare and frontline workers. Later, it began the second phase from March 1 where doses are being administered to people above the age of 60 and those between the ages of 45-59 with specific co-morbidities.
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On March 9, Dr PK Mishra, the principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level review meet to discuss the status and progress of the vaccination drive across all the states and union territories (UTs) wherein they were instructed to expand their reach to more beneficiaries by increasing the number of inoculations, registration and ensuring easy and equitable access of vaccines etc.
Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba, who was a part of the meeting, told states and UTs to speed up their vaccination drive and cover as many beneficiaries as possible in a short time due to India’s large population. He also instructed them to come up with a plan for the next three months on accomplishing the same.
