One dose of vaccine is 96.6 per cent effective in preventing death and two Covid shots are 97.5 per cent effective, the government said today, citing data between April and August.

Vaccination prevents deaths, said the government, adding that new data showed most deaths in the devastating second wave of Covid in April-May were recorded among the unvaccinated.

"Vaccination is the most important shield against the virus," said VK Paul, who heads the Covid task force, NDTV reported. 

"There are vaccines available. We request people to get their vaccination. Only after the first dose can people get the second dose. It assures that death due to Covid does not happen," he said.

The government said breakthrough infections - or infections among the fully vaccinated - do happen, but asserted that they "do not result in mortality" and account for an extremely low level of hospitalization.

Along with Covid, other infections like dengue are also on the rise, warned Dr Paul, confirming that the fever that was causing deaths among children in Uttar Pradesh was dengue.

"Mosquito-borne diseases are on the rise we need to be careful. Dengue has serious, fatal complications and there is no vaccine. We must fight against these illnesses alongside Covid," he said.
 
The country today recorded 43,263 new coronavirus infections and 338 deaths.  A total of 441,749 people have died so far in the pandemic. More than 710 million people have been vaccinated nationwide, the government said.