Covid-19: Nearly 40 million beneficiaries did not get second vaccine shot within stipulated time, govt data shows
Nearly 40 million beneficiaries didn’t receive their second dose of a coronavirus vaccine within stipulated time, press agency PTI has reported citing the Union government’s response to a Right to Information (RTI) query. Activist Raman Sharma had filed the RTI query seeking information from the central government during this regard.
“The total number of beneficiaries who got their first dose of Covishield but didn’t get their second within stipulated period of your time as prescribed by the govt as per the due report on the CoWIN portal is 34,072,993,” the Covid-19 vaccine administration cell of the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) said in response to Sharma’s query. The corresponding figures for Covaxin, meanwhile, stood at 4,678,406, as per the ministry’s response. Together, the numbers add up to 38,751,399.
The data provided to Sharma is consistent with figures as on August 17, 2021.
“It is suggested that the beneficiaries who received their first dose of vaccine get their second within the stipulated period. there’s no recommendation for those that don’t take their second dose within stipulated period as prescribed by the govt of India, to urge their first dose again,” the Union health ministry further said, noting that the gap between two doses of Covishield should be 84 to 112 days, while that between two shots of Covaxin should be 28-42 days.
As per data available on the CoWIN portal, as of noon on Thursday, 442,285,854 beneficiaries had received their first dose, while 125,907,443 had taken both the doses.
The national vaccination drive against Covid-19 began on January 16 this year, days after Covishield and Covaxin received clearance from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). Since then, three other shots have also been approved. Thus far, Covaxin is India’s first and only home-made shot against Covid-19.
