As many as 1,91,181 beneficiaries were vaccinated against COVID-19 across 3,351 session sites in India on Saturday, 16 January – the first day of the vaccination drive – the Union Health Ministry said.
In a briefing earlier on Saturday evening, the government said no case of post-vaccination hospitalisation has been reported so far.
While Serum Institute of India's Covishield was supplied to all states and Union territories, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin was supplied to 12 states, the ministry further said.
Govt Lists 2 Issues Faced on First Day
Furthermore, as many as 16,755 vaccinators were involved in the pan-India drive on the first day.
Among the issues faced on the first day of the vaccination drive included a delay in the uploading beneficiary lists at some session sites, as well as instances of healthcare workers being vaccinated despite not being scheduled for the sessions on Saturday, the government added, listing solutions for the same.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India's ambitious vaccination drive against COVID-19 via video-conferencing at 10:30 am on Saturday. Days earlier, two vaccines were given emergency use authorisation by India's top drug regulator – Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Serum Institute's Covishield.
India plans to inoculate 3 crore health and frontline workers in the first phase of vaccination, followed by those above 50 and those with co-morbidities.
Since the pandemic reached India a little less than a year back, the country has recorded over 1.05 crore cases, with the death toll standing at over 1.52 lakh.
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