The authorities are now gearing up for the roll-out of the second shot of coronavirus vaccination on Saturday for the beneficiaries who were given jabs at the beginning of the nationwide inoculation drive on 16 January.
After a sluggish start, since the exercise was kicked off, the vaccination drive had picked up pace in the last several days.
AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria and NITI Aayog’s VK Paul, who were among the first ones to take the Covid-19 vaccine, are expected to receive the second dose, which needs to be taken 28 days after the first one.
Everything you need to know about 2nd Covid vaccine dose:
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 recognise the killer virus and ramp up the immune system, which is the body’s defence system against the infection.
5) A senior doctor at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality 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 Speciality 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).
