Vaccination / How many people in India tested COVID-19 +ve after 1st & 2nd dose of vaccine?

Zoom News : Apr 21, 2021, 07:55 PM
New Delhi: The Union health ministry on Wednesday said that the breakthrough infection rate after taking the first and the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccines approved in India remained low for both Covaxin and Covishield vaccines - currently being used in the national vaccination drive.

Data shared by the Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan showed that after taking the first dose of the Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, 4,208 people have tested positive for the coronavirus disease, which is 0.04 per cent of the 9,356,436 total beneficiaries inoculated. Also, 695 people tested positive after taking the second dose of the vaccine, which is again 0.04 per cent of the 1,737,178 beneficiaries of the second jab.

While 100,302,745 beneficiaries have received the first dose of the Covishield vaccine, 17,145 have tested positive after that, which is 0.02 per cent. Also, 15,732,754 people have been jabbed with a second dose of the vaccine, of whom, 5,014 have been retested positive for the infection, which is 0.03 per cent, the data showed.

What is breakthrough infection?

Dr Balram Bharaghava, Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), who was also present at the press briefing, said, “After vaccination, if we get infection, it is known as breakthrough infection.”

He pointed out the ministry’s data and said that the breakthrough infection rate for both the vaccines is “a very small number.”

For Covishield, after the first dose two per 10,000 people get reinfected and after the second dose, three per 10,000 people get reinfected and for Covaxin, four per 10,000 people get reinfected after taking the first dose and the number remains the same for the second dose too, Dr Bhargava explained.

Reasons for re-infection

Explaining the possible reasons behind the breakthrough infections, Dr Bhargava said that India’s healthcare and frontline workers, who were the priority list for vaccination during the first phase, were prone to more occupational exposure to the coronavirus disease.

He also suggested that “the current highly transmissible” second wave of Covid-19 might also have contributed to the breakthrough infection rates.

According to the Union health ministry, more than 130 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the country as of 8am on the day.

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