One dose of the vaccine against the coronavirus has proved to be 96.6% effective in preventing deaths while two shots provide 97.5% efficacy against fatality due to the infection, the Centre said on Thursday.
The figures were presented by Indian Council of Medical Research chief Balram Bhargava at a press briefing on India’s coronavirus situation. This was based on data collated between April 18 to August 15.
Bhargava said that the vaccines have a “protective effect against death” across age groups, which includes beneficiaries above 60, between 45 and 59 years, or 18 to 44 years.
The government data also showed that most of the Covid-19 deaths, recorded between April 18 and August 15, were among those who had not been vaccinated.
Bhargava said that an analysis of the data on India’s inoculated population showed that vaccines had been effective in preventing mortality to a large extent.
“Vaccines are…