15,37,190 beneficiaries vaccinated till date for COVID; 6 deaths reported post-inoculation

As India achieves the fastest COVID-19 vaccine rollout within a week, Union Health Ministry on Saturday stated that as of date 6 people have died post-vaccination, though no deaths have been linked to it. While a total of 11 hospitalizations have been reported post-vaccination - one in the past 24 hours, the latest fatality post-vaccination is a 56-year-old woman from Gurugram. As of date, 15,37,190 beneficiaries have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in 27,776 sessions.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India's tally at 1,06,39,684; vaccinations touch 14 lakhs

Centre: 6 post-vaccination deaths till date

The Union Additional Health Secretary Manohar Agnani informed that in addition to 12 states currently using COVAXIN, 7 new states would be administering COVAXIN from next week. So apart from Telangana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar, Karnataka, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, seven other states namely - Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal will begin vaccination with COVAXIN next week. The Bharat Biotech-ICMR Coronavirus vaccine showed enhanced immune response without any serious side effects in the participants enrolled for the phase 1 trials - assured The Lancet Infectious Disease journal.

In a boost to COVAXIN, which has raised doubts among experts, as it is undergoing phase-2 results and its efficacy data is yet to be published, Lancet on Friday, said that all adverse events were mild and moderate, and were more frequent after the first dose, adding that one adverse event was reported but was unrelated to the vaccine. Among the 375 participants enrolled in phase-1 trials, it was found that the vaccine was well tolerated in all dose groups with no vaccine-related serious adverse events. However, no new data has been released in the public domain which could demonstrate further safety and efficacy of COVAXIN.

Mamata Banerjee refuses to speak at Netaji event after crowds raise 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans

India kicks off COVID vaccination

Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker in Delhi, became the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in India after PM Modi flagged off the nationwide vaccination drive on Saturday, in the presence of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan at AIIMS Delhi. PM Modi launched the nationwide vaccine drive on Saturday via videoconferencing and congratulated the people of India on getting two 'Made in India' vaccines. With a limit of 100 beneficiaries per centre, vaccination drive is underway in over 3500 centres in the 'world's biggest vaccine programme'. The government has already purchased 1.1 crore COVISHIELD vaccine doses and 55 lakh COVAXIN vaccine shots - aiming to vaccinate 3 crore frontline warriors, in the first phase.

PM pays tribute to Netaji on Parakram Diwas, remembers his struggle & vision for India

Ex-Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav shifted to AIIMS Delhi from RIMS as his health worsens