No COVID-19 vaccination sessions on February 27, 28 across India: Know why

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has said that no COVID-19 vaccination sessions will be held on February 27 and February 28 across India. So far, over 1.37 crores healthcare and frontline workers have been vaccinated in the country.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has said that no COVID-19 vaccination sessions will be held on February 27 and February 28 across India. 

The country will witness a two-day halt as the Co-Win digital platform, a software used to coordinate India's COVID-19 vaccination campaign, is being upgraded.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that on this Saturday and Sunday, the Co-Win digital platform will be transitioning from Co-Win1.0 to Co-Win 2.0. 

"In view of this, COVID-19 vaccination sessions will not be scheduled during these two days," the ministry informed.

The up-gradation is being done as India will begin giving COVID-19 vaccine shots to people above 60 years of age from March 1. People above 45 years of age with comorbidities will also be vaccinated from the same date.

Earlier on Friday, Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary along with RS Sharma, Chairman of Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration (Co-WIN) and member, National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of COVID-19 (NEGVAC), chaired a high-level meeting with Health Secretaries and MDs (NHM) of states and UTs on the vaccination of age-appropriate groups.

The states and UTs were explained the basic features of version 2.0 of CO-Win.

This is to be noted that Co-Win is being widely used to fix coronavirus vaccination appointments, allow health authorities to monitor supplies and download proof of the immunisation.

India has so far vaccinated over 1.37 crores healthcare and frontline workers. A total of 1,37,56,940 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given through 2,89,320 sessions, as per the provisional report till 6 pm on Friday.

These include 66,37,049 Health Care Workers (HCWs) who have taken the 1st dose and 22,04,083 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, along with 49,15,808 Front Line Workers (FLWs) (1st dose).

Six states and UTs have vaccinated more than 75% of the registered HCWs and FLWs for the first dose. These are – Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Gujarat, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tripura.

Uttar Pradesh (73,434), West Bengal (38,522), Gujarat (35,540), Karnataka (21,459) and Maharashtra (18,190) are the five states that have recorded the highest number of vaccinations.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 51 people have been hospitalized so far, of which, 27 were discharged after treatment, while twenty-three persons died and one person is under treatment. On the other hand, 46 deaths have also been recorded to date. Of the 46 people, 23 died in the hospital while 23 deaths were recorded outside the hospital. However, the MoHFW stated that there is no case of serious, severe AEFI, death attributable to vaccination, to date.

The countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive, the largest in the world, was rolled out on January 16, 2021, and the vaccination of the FLWs started on February 2.