Over 18.5 lakh healthcare workers who had received the first dose of vaccines since the launch of COVID immunisation drive, have been inoculated with the second and final dose, whereas 2,44,511 of them received the second shot on 25 February, the Union Health Ministry said.

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So far, the second dose vaccination has covered 55.23 percent of those healthcare workers who are eligible to receive their second dose of vaccines, as per the ministry's data. A total of 18,60,859 healthcare workers have been vaccinated with the second dose till February 25, the 14th day from the start of second dose administration, against 30,68,734 vaccinated till January 29, the 14th day of the first dose vaccination, the data showed. Meanwhile, 3,95,884 vaccine doses were given through 12,988 sessions to healthcare and frontline workers till 6 p.m. on 25 February, the 41st day of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination, as per the provisional report shared by the ministry. "Out of this, 98,382 beneficiaries were vaccinated for the first dose and 63,458 received the second dose of vaccines," it added.

Meanwhile, the cumulative figure of vaccine doses has reached 1,30,67,047 across the country. "These include 65,82,007 who have taken the 1st dose including 46,24,181 frontline workers and 18,60,859 of those healthcare workers who have taken the second dose," the ministry said. Five cases of Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) have been reported related to the 1st dose vaccination and 3 cases related to the 2nd dose. The said informed that seven states and a UT have vaccinated more than 80 percent of the registered healthcare and frontline workers for the first dose. These are Bihar, Odisha, Tripura, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The ministry also said that 45 deaths among vaccine beneficiaries have been recorded so far (23 deaths in hospital and 22 outside), while 51 have been hospitalised so far, of which 26 were discharged after treatment, two are under treatment, and 23 persons have died. "In last 24 hours, one person has been hospitalised at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. He is stable now," the Joint Secretary, Health, said.

The ministry however clarified that no case of severe AEFI ot death is attributable to vaccination so far. "The hospitalisations and even deaths post vaccination are not found linked with vaccines. Besides, their rate of occurrence to the vaccination is only 0.0004 percent," he said. The vaccination of the healthcare workers started on January 16 while the frontline workers started receiving the vaccine shots from February 2. From March 1, COVID-19 vaccination will be extended to people aged 60 years and above and those aged 45 years and above with comorbidities.