New Delhi, March 8: At the start of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, fewer beneficiaries than planned attended inoculation sessions due to transient technical issues in the Co-WIN portal, vaccine hesitancy etc, which have progressively been addressed, Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday. The rate of vaccination coverage has subsequently increased, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey said in a written reply.

"More than 50 lakh healthcare workers and frontline workers have been vaccinated in 21 days in India, which is the fastest rate in the world," Choubey said. A total of 93.6 lakh healthcare workers and 77.9 lakh frontline workers have been registered as on January 31. A total of 37.58 lakh workers were vaccinated till January 31, he said.

"Initially the coverage was low. At the start of COVID-19 vaccination drive, fewer than planned beneficiaries attended vaccination sessions due to transient technical issues in Co-WIN portal, vaccine hesitancy etc., which have progressively been addressed," he said. COVID-19 Vaccination Drive in Delhi: Over 35,700 People Vaccinated in National Capital Today, Highest Number of People Inoculated in Single Day.

A communication campaign was carried out to raise awareness about the COVID-19 vaccines and address misinformation. The communication strategy aims to disseminate factual information about the vaccine and the vaccination process. This is being done through multimedia platforms and the MoHFW website, Choubey said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)