Rolling out of second round of Covid-19 vaccine begins in India: Things to know

India has started rolling out second dose of coronavirus vaccine on Saturday. Those who received the first dose 28 days before will get the second dose from today on wards.

Being one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world, India’s vaccination drive, which is believed to be the largest in the world, aiming to provide vaccines for a population of 1.3 billion, was started on January 16.

Here is the things you need to know about 2nd Covid vaccine dose according to Livemint:

1) According to the doctors, the second round of Covid-19 vaccine booster dose is to be given to a beneficiary after a gap of 28 days.

2) However, experts have clarified that the second shot can be taken anytime between four to six weeks from the first dose.

3) The second Covid-19 vaccine dose, which is called the booster shot, further boosts the immune system of your body. Hence, the administration of both is essential.

4) Experts have said that the first vaccine shot is designed to train your body to recognize the killer virus and ramp up the immune system, which is the body’s defense system against the infection.

5) A senior doctor at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital told news agency PTI, “We are all heard up for the second dose delivery tomorrow.” Another senior doctor at the Centre for Chest and Respiratory Illness, BLK Super Specialty Hospital received his second vaccine shot today.

6) The two vaccines approved here – Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s Covishield, made by local partner the Serum Institute of India, and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin – need to be kept refrigerated at all times.

7) Coronavirus vaccine Covishield is being administered at the majority of the centres while Bharat Biotech-made Covaxin doses given at the remaining facilities.

8) More than 77 lakh healthcare and frontline workers have received the first jab of the Covid vaccine till Friday, the Central government said, adding that 97% people of the beneficiaries are “satisfied”. The country has set a target of vaccinating 30 crore people against the deadly virus by July 2021.

9) The country just took 26 days to inoculate over 70 lakh people, while it took 27 days for America and 48 days for Britain to reach the same figures, the Health Ministry had stated.

10) The 10 states with the highest number of vaccinations on Friday are: Uttar Pradesh (68,135), Maharashtra (24,946), Madhya Pradesh (21897), Jammu and Kashmir (17,900), West Bengal (17,609), Gujarat (16,069), Karnataka (13,741), Chhattisgarh (11,988), Jharkhand (10,488) and Odisha (7,279).