The second wave of coronavirus has hit the country by storm, followed by new variants found in various parts of India. With the vaccination drive going in full swing, the public is still under the dilemma of whether to opt for covaxin or covishield. The Indian government on Wednesday has released the data of the people who were tested positive for covid-19 after receiving the second dose of vaccines. 

According to the data, 21,000 or more were tested positive after taking the first dose of both the covishield or covaxin, the rest 5,500 were infected after taking the second dose. Eventhough the numbers themselves seem large, as a percentage they are not that significant. It amounts to only 0.04% and 0.03% of the total population that has been inoculated. Balram Bharagava, ICMR Director General, is of the same opinion.

The Bharat Biotech manufactured Covaxin has been administered to 11 million people so far. 9.3 million of these have been vaccincated with the first dose and 1.7 million have had their second dose.

When it comes to Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, 100 million people have received their first dose. Additionally, 15 million have received the second dose as well. 

Given the current situation, three vaccines (covishield, covaxin, sputnik) have been given Emergency Use Authorizations by India. 

According to the senior government officials, there will be a fourth covid-19 vaccine from Biological E, which is based in Hyderabad. This vaccine has gone through phase 1 and phase 2 trails. It is now ready to go through phase 3 trials. This presents as a ray of hope in the dire situation as the Biological E has a 7 million/ month manufacturing capacity.

Meanwhile, the Covid landscape of the country remains disheartening. The current active cases in the country are twice as much as last year. About 3 lakh additional cases have been added to the list of positive cases. With the death toll rising, the country is in desperate need of a more aggressive vaccination approach and more vaccines in general.