Post-vaccination breakthrough COVID-19 infection rate very small in India: Health Ministry

The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday said that the breakthrough infection rate of COVID-19 after taking the either of the two Made in India vaccines - Covaxin and Covishield vaccines - "is a very small number".

"Two-four per 10,000 breakthrough infection has occurred after vaccination, which is a very small number," ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava said during the weekly health ministry briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Citing data, he said 4,208 people have tested positive for the coronavirus disease after taking the first dose of the Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, 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, he said.

Bhushan said 100,302,745 beneficiaries received the first dose of the Covishield vaccine and 17,145 have tested positive after that, which is 0.02 per cent. "Also, 15,732,754 people have been given second dose of the vaccine, of whom, 5,014 have been retested positive, which is 0.03 per cent," he added.

Bhushan said India has 21.57 lakh active COVID-19 cases which is twice of the maximum number of active cases the country had last year.

"Mostly every state is facing the second wave of COVID. The Centre and state governments are trying hard to curb the spread of pandemic. The fatality rate in the country is 1.17 per cent while the recovery rate is 85 per cent," he said.

Bhushan said that there are 146 districts across the country where the positivity rate is more than 15 per cent and it is a cause of concern.

"There are five states with more than 1 lakh active cases - Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Kerala," Bhushan said.

Referring to vaccinations, he said more than 13 crore people have been vaccinated in the country so far including 30 lakh doses administered in the last 24 hours.

"Around 87 per cent health workers and 79 per cent frontline workers have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccines," he said.

He also said that the total number of beds in central government hospitals for COVID patients in Delhi have increased by four times to 2105 (1875 oxygen beds and 230 ICU beds) by Tuesday.

India recorded 2,95,041 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

( With inputs from ANI )