India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered crosses 190 crore-mark

All those above the age of 18 who have completed nine months after the administration of the second dose are eligible for the precaution dose.

PTI

May 07, 2022 / 12:05 IST

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 190 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. So far, more than 3.01 crore (3,01,97,120) children in the age group of 12-14 years have been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Till now, 9,95,265 precaution doses have been administered to those aged 18-59 years, according to Health Ministry data. On April 10, India began administering precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines to people aged above 18 years at private vaccination centres.

All those above the age of 18 who have completed nine months after the administration of the second dose are eligible for the precaution dose. The countrywide Covid vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. Vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2, 2021.

The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1, 2021 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The country launched the vaccination drive for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1 last year. The government then decided to expand the drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the viral disease from May 1 last year.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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