COVID-19 | Over 1.42 lakh precaution doses given in India

More than 2.42 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the 12-14 years age group so far. Over 2.52 crore precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and to those aged 60 and above so far.

PTI

April 16, 2022 / 20:50 IST

Representative image (Image: Reuters)

A total of 31,818 precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered to those aged 18-59 years on Saturday, taking the count of these jabs to 1,42,613, according to Union health ministry data. The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 186.49 crore with more than 11 lakh vaccine doses being administered till 7 pm, it said.

India on April 10 began administering precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines to all 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.

More than 2.42 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the 12-14 years age group so far. Over 2.52 crore precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and to those aged 60 and above so far.

The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night. The countrywide 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 last year.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 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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