India-made vaccines are proving to be highly successful in preventing the deadly Covid-19 disease that is wreaking havoc worldwide, official figures show.
The Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday that data on Covid-19 infections after vaccination in India showed that only 0.04 per cent of those who received the first dose of Bharat Biotech's made-in-India Covaxin contracted Covid.
For Serum Institute of India's Covishield, the vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca, the numbers are even lower, as only about 0.02 per cent of those who received the first dose of Covishield tested positive for Covid.
Mr Bhargava said these numbers include even healthcare workers who received the vaccine but are exposed to far more Cvoid-19 patients than the others.
This is a very, very low number, said Balram Bhargava, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Of the 93,56,436 who have received the first dose of Covaxin, 4,208 have tested Covid positive.
A similar percentage was infected after their second dose of Covaxin. Out of 17,37,178 who received both doses, only 695 tested positive.
So out of 10,03,02,745 recipients of one Serum Institute’s Covishield dose, 17,145 have tested positive.
Some 0.03 per cent turned up positive after the second dose. In numbers, that is 5,014 out of 1,57,32,754 recipients of both doses of Covishield.
The government said these numbers prove the vaccines are safe and effective so more and more people should get their shots to fight effectively against Covid-19.
Experts say the first dose of vaccine may not prevent Covid but it can certainly protect against severe infection or death.
Typically, it takes two weeks after both doses for the body to build immunity against the virus, according to scientists.
More than 13 crore vaccinated
Meanwhile, more than 13 crore people have now been vaccinated in India as another 29.9 lakh persons were administered the anti-Covid shots on Tuesday, according to figures from the health ministry.
India, was in fact the fastest to vaccinate the first 10 crore people which was again followed up by the next milestones of 11, 12, and 13 crore in record time.
The government has now thrown open vaccination to all adults in the country from May 1 which will mark a further acceleration of the inoculation drive.
