India is the fastest country to reach the 50 lakh-mark in COVID-19 vaccination in 21 days: Health Ministry
More than 54 lakh people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.
Of the 54,16,849 beneficiaries inoculated, the highest number of people were vaccinated in Uttar Pradesh at 6,73,542, followed by Maharashtra at 4,34,943, Rajasthan at 4,14,422 and Karnataka at 3,60,592.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said India is the fastest country to reach the 50 lakh-mark in COVID-19 vaccination in 21 days.
Here are the updates:
Second dose of vaccines to be administered from February 13
India will begin to administer the second dose of COVID-19 vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin — from February 13 for people who were vaccinated on January 16, according to a press statement from the Press Information Bureau quoting Rajesh Bhushan, Health Secretary.
Mr. Bhushan was addressing a conference involving top bureaucrats, charged with health, from all States. Both vaccines approved in India are to be given 28 days apart, according to the rules governing their dosage.
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British drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Saturday it believed its COVID-19 vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, could protect against severe disease caused by the South African variant of the virus.
AstraZeneca confirmed that early data from a small trial, first reported by the Financial Times, had shown limited efficacy for the vaccine against mild disease primarily due to this variant.
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(With inputs from Agencies)
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