2,24,301 beneficiaries given vaccine so far; 447 cases of adverse effect reported: Govt

New Delhi: A total of 2,24,301 beneficiaries have been inoculated with COVID-19 vaccine so far, out of which only 447 adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) were reported, the Union Health Ministry said on day two of the nationwide vaccination drive on Sunday.

Addressing a press briefing, the ministry's Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani said out of the 447 adverse events following immunisation, only three required hospitalisation.

"Today being Sunday, only six states conducted vaccination drive and in 553 sessions a total of 17,072 beneficiaries were vaccinated," he said.

The six states where the vaccination drive was carried out on Sunday are Andhra Pradesh (308 sessions), Arunachal Pradesh (14 sessions), Karnataka (64 sessions), Kerala (one session), Manipur (one session) and Tamil Nadu (165 sessions), he said.

"A total of 447 AEFI have been reported on January 16 and 17, out of which only three required hospitalisation. Most of the AEFI reported so far are minor like fever, headache, nausea," he said.

Agnani said that of the three people hospitalised post vaccination, two have been discharged from the Northern Railway Hospital and AIIMS in Delhi and one is under observation in AIIMS Rishikesh and is doing fine.

Agnani said an adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) is any unexpected medical occurrence which follows immunisation and it may or may not be related to the vaccine or vaccination process.

Noting that only a few AEFI cases may require hospitalisation which are classified under serious AEFI, Agnani said protocols are in place for reporting, immediate case management at vaccination session site, transportation and hospitalisation and further care of such cases.

"Protocols are also in place for systematic investigation and causality assessment of serious AEFI (cases)," he said.

Agnani said a meeting was held with all states and union territories on Sunday to review the progress of the drive, identify bottlenecks and plan corrective actions.

India's COVID-19 tally of cases climbed to 1,05,57,985 on Sunday with 15,144 new cases in a day, while 1,01,96,885 people have recuperated so far pushing the national recovery rate to 96.58 per cent.

There are 2,08,826 active cases of Coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 1.98 per cent of the total caseload.

The death toll climbed to 1,52,274 with the novel Coronavirus virus claiming 181 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated by Health Ministry at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.44 per cent.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 18,65,44,868 samples have been tested up to January 16 with 7,79,377 samples being tested on Saturday.