New Delhi:

More than 21,000 people tested positive for Covid-19 after taking the first dose of either Covishield or Covaxin, while over 5,500 contracted the infection after taking the second dose, the Centre said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said 0.04 per cent of 17,37,178 individuals, who received the second dose of Covaxin, were positive for Covid-19, while 0.03 per cent of 1,57,32,754 people, who took the second dose of Covishield, contracted the infection.

Bhargava who presented the data said vaccines reduce the risk of infection and prevent death and severe infection.

"After vaccination if one gets infection then it is known as breakthrough infection," he said.

So far, 1.1 crore doses of Covaxin have been administered. Out of which 93 lakh received the first dose and out of that 4,208 (0.04 per cent) people got the infection which is four per 10,000 individuals. About 17,37,178 people received the second dose of which only 695 (0.04 per cent) tested positive for Covid-19, Bhargava said.

Of Covishield, 11.6 crore doses have been given. Ten crore received the first dose and 17,145 i.e. 2 per 10,000 people contracted the infection. About 1,57,32,754 individuals took the second dose of Covishield and of that 5,014 (0.03 per cent) got infected. Two to four per 10,000 breakthrough infections have occurred, a very small number. This was mainly healthcare workers prone to more occupational hazards, he said.

According to the data, 5,709 people contracted the infection after the second dose of either of the two vaccines.

"This is a very small number and not at all worrisome. Secondly, the highly transmissible second wave also contributed (in) miniscule (way) to the percentage so this could have been even zero per cent," he said.

Responding to a question that there have been cases of people with no other exposure testing positive two weeks after vaccination, and if there is any link between vaccine and cases among those vaccinated, Bhargava said these vaccines are given to protect from the disease.

"These definitely do not cause any disease. However, the immune response takes two dose plus two weeks to fully mount. But individual variations do occur, some may get it slightly earlier some may get a delayed response," he said.

NITI Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul noted that there is a risk even after taking vaccination so "we stress people to follow Covid appropriate behaviour even after taking the vaccination".

Paul said that with refinements being made in vaccine policy, India is talking to major manufacturers from other countries very, very actively.

He further said a fourth vaccine, Hyderabad-based Biological E's indigenous anti -coronavirus shot, may become available from August.

"The phase 1 and 2 trial of Biological E is almost over and they will be submitting their data, and after that they will go into phase 3.This is a very significant development as they have a capacity of seven crore vaccines per month," Paul said.

On vaccinations, Bhushan said 87 per cent of all healthcare workers and 79 per cent of frontline workers have received their first dose of vaccine.

"Eighty per cent of healthcare workers have received the second dose of vaccine so that is a matter of satisfaction," he said.

About 11 states and UTs — Himachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Kerala, Rajasthan, Ladakh, Uttarakhand ,Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Gujarat — have administered first dose to more than 90 per cent of the registered healthcare workers.

Eleven states and UTs — Nagaland, Chandigarh, Manipur ,Meghalaya, Punjab, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi — have administered first dose to less than 75 per cent of the registered HCWs.

Fourteen states and UTs have given second dose to more than 85 per cent of eligible HCWs. They are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Sikkim, Ladakh, Daman and Diu.

Eight states and UTs — Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi — have given second dose to less than 75 per cent of the eligible HCWs.

Eleven states and UTs — Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Daman and Diu, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Ladakh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have administered first dose to more than 80 per cent of the registered FLWs.

Ten states and UTs with FLW coverage less than 65 per cent are Goa, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram,Telangana, Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Kerala.

Ten states and UTs have given second dose to more than 84 per cent of eligible FLWs. They are Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Lakshadweep, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya.

Nine states and UTs — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir — have given second dose to less than 70 per cent of eligible FLWs.

Ten states and UTs — A&N Islands, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Sikkim and Ladakh — have given first dose to more than 40 per cent of the people aged above 60 years.