Phase two, day one: 1.46 lakh vaccinated, 29 lakh registered
On Monday, when India kick-started the second phase of the coronavirus vaccination drive, 1.46 lakh people were inoculated with the first dose, reports IE. The number of registrations shot up to over 29 lakh, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said last evening while speaking with NDTV. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the second phase of the drive as he got vaccinated in Delhi.
India started vaccination drive with 'corona warriors'
India, the second worst-affected nation in terms of the number of infections, had started its vaccination drive on January 16 with Covishield and COVAXIN. The first ones to receive the jabs were healthcare workers followed by frontline workers, who are at a greater risk of contracting the infection. Next in line were those aged above 60 and those above 45 having co-morbidities.
Reportedly, 18,850 people, aged above 45, got the shot
Citing Ministry of Health data, IE reported that of the 1.46 lakh vaccinated yesterday, 1.28 lakh were aged above 60, and 18,850 were aged above 45. To note, for this phase, the government has allowed citizens to register themselves through the Aarogya Setu app or Co-WIN web portal. Vaccination centers have also been allowing walk-ins where beneficiaries have to furnish relevant documents.
Till 8:30 pm, over 29 lakh had registered: Health Minister
Lakhs of people also registered themselves for the vaccine. Revealing the figures, Dr. Harsh Vardhan told NDTV, "Till 8.30 pm over 29 lakh people have registered on the platform. And, you see, if one person registers, s/he has the facility of registering for four family members. So, if you take the average of one person registering for two, then it becomes almost 60 lakh."
'Vaccinations will strenghten our movement to herd immunity'
"The idea of vaccinating as many people as possible is to ensure that more and more people have antibodies. This will strengthen our movement to herd immunity. Scientifically that helps in a big way...and ultimately that is the aim of vaccination," he added.
A slew of politicians got vaccinated yesterday
Besides PM Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar got the first dose of the vaccine yesterday. The judges of the Supreme Court and their families will be inoculated from Tuesday. Dr. Harsh Vardhan will also get vaccinated today.
