Covid vaccination drive: Over 7,000 get 2nd dose, total 80L vaccinated so far

New Delhi: Beneficiaries of the nationwide COVID-19 immunisation drive began receiving the second dose with over 7,000 healthcare workers getting the jab on Saturday, 28 days after their first shot on the inaugural day.

The Union Health ministry said the cumulative number of healthcare and frontline workers vaccinated against Coronavirus in the country surpassed 80 lakh on Saturday.

It said 80,52,454 beneficiaries have been vaccinated through 1,69,215 sessions, according to the provisional report till Saturday 6 pm. These include 59,35,275 healthcare workers and 21,17,179 frontline workers.

"The second dose of COVID-19 vaccination started from today for those beneficiaries who have completed 28 days after receipt of the first dose. The approval provided by DCGI accords a window of four to six weeks for the second dose. As many as 7,668 healthcare workers received the second dose of vaccine today (Saturday)," the ministry said.

On Saturday, 84,807 beneficiaries were inoculated till 6 pm, the 29th day of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination as per provisional data. As many as 4,434 sessions were organised on Saturday till 6 pm, the ministry said.

In the last 24 hours, three new deaths have been reported.

A 38-year-old person of Harda in Madhya Pradesh died due to myocardial infarction nine days after vaccination. A 35-year-old resident of Panipat who suffered from pneumonia with acute respiratory distress syndrome died eight days after vaccination. A 58-year-old resident of Rajasthan's Dausa collapsed on duty and died.

India's tally of Covid cases, on Saturday, rose to 1,08,92,746 with 12,143 new infections being reported in a day with 103 daily fatalities.