On Day 2 of India's COVID-19 vaccination drive, only 17,000 get their first jab: Here's why

Hardly over 17,000 beneficiaries were vaccinated against the novel coronavirus disease on the second day of the first phase of India's immunisation drive. With a total of 17,072 beneficiaries receiving their first jab on January 17, the total number of people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine in India rose to 2,24,301, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

On day two of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, only around 17,000 people got vaccinated as against around two lakh on January day one because only six states conducted the immunisation campaign on January 17.

India had recorded the highest day one vaccination number in the world with 207229 healthcare and frontline workers receiving the COVID-19 vaccine shots on January 16.

Speaking about it, the Health Ministry said: "Today being Sunday, only 6 states conducted coronavirus vaccination drive and a total of 17,072 beneficiaries received jabs."

Most states decided to pause the vaccination drive on January 17 because it is a Sunday and the COVID-19 vaccination would have clashed with the immunisation schedules for other illnesses.

Manohar Agnani, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, explained: “The usual strategy is to avoid days on which there is a holiday or there is routine immunisation for other diseases. Most states are doing it on four days but smaller states like Goa are doing it on two days of the week because they have lesser numbers.”

The Health Ministry also informed that a total of 447 cases of adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) have been reported in India over the past two days. Out of these 447 cases of the vaccine beneficiaries developing adverse symptoms after getting vaccinated, only three required hospitalisation.

Out of the three who had to be hospitalised, only one is still under observation at AIIMS Rishikesh, the other two have been discharged. While one was discharged from the Northern Railway Hospital, Delhi, after 24 hours, the other was discharged from AIIMS Delhi.

Most of the other AEFIs reported so far include minor symptoms like fever, headache, nausea, etc.

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