Over 2.2 mn precautionary Covid jabs being administered per day: Health min

More than 2.2 million precautionary Covid-19 vaccine doses are being administered per day, said Union health ministry data on Friday, adding that India has administered a total of 2.11 billion jabs as of now.

"Collective will of the country under the decisive and progressive leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, which was demonstrated through Jan Bhagidari," said Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, hailing the vaccination milestone.

While the daily average Covid vaccination doses cross 2.8 million mark, over 880,000 special vaccination camps have been organised in the country.

This includes camps at railway stations (4,052), bus stations (8,776), airports (367), schools and colleges (1,11,700), on the way to religious places (4,654) and camps at other places (7,57,036).
 

On August 11, Corbevax was added as a heterologous precaution dose, with the recommendation from National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI). The precautionary dose can be administered after the second dose of either Covaxin, or Covishield. The precaution dose can now be taken after six months (26 weeks) after the second dose. 

Covid vaccine Amrit Mahotsav campaign, launched on July 15, aimed to give impetus to precautionary dose as part of the national Covid vaccination drive. Under the campaign, free precaution doses for persons, aged 18 years and above, are being provided at all government Covid-19 vaccination centres. The free precautionary doses are being administered for 75 days and will end on September 30.

As on day 22 of the campaign, a total of 147 million precaution doses have been administered so far. Prior to the launch of the campaign, the average daily doses administered increased to 2.77 per day from 1.14 million per day.