• Vaccine Tracker: India began the second phase of vaccination against the novel coronavirus on 01 March 2021. According to the health ministry, as of 31 August 2021, 49.3 crore persons have been administered at least one dose of the vaccine

1. Common Misinformation/Prevalence of Vaccine Hesitancy:

• Fake news: Video of Indian jawans collapsing wrongly linked to COVID-19 vaccine
• Assam CM Sarma denies rumours about delaying school reopening in state, asks police to investigate fake news
• Jammu and Kashmir's COVID-19 vaccination drive sluggish due to hesitancy; businesses bear brunt
• Mumbai: Lukewarm vaccination response in Dharavi, only 11% inoculated  
  

2. Countering vaccine hesitancy- Success Stories/strategies to reduce hesitancy:

• By roping in religious leaders and young influencers, Unnao in UP is addressing vaccine hesitancy
• The story behind vaccine turnaround in Bastar
• Himachal Pradesh becomes the first state to vaccinate 100% of its population
• With 1 crore jabs in a day, the Indian state has given a befitting reply to detractors
• GiveIndia launches "Vaccinate India Programme" to protect underserved communities from COVID-19

3. Overperforming/common trends in the last week:

• CrowdTangle Insights from the previous week- the post on God’s own COVID-19 surge and Taliban terrorists in black hawk has overperformed by 245.39 times
• The post on Jaipur’s last mint camera photographer struggles to stay afloat amid COVID-19 has overperformed by 120.32 times
• The post on ‘India may be entering the endemic stage of the pandemic’ announced by the WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Sowmya Swaminathan has overperformed by 1672.64 times

4. On-ground surveys on COVID-19/Research studies on COVID-19 vaccines efficacy  

• Most Indians experience no or only mild side effects after both doses of Covishield or Covaxin: Survey
• Risk of death lower among vaccinated people
• In COVID-19 battle, the urban middle class reposes trust in Ayurveda
• Nearly 30 million Indian kids had no way of attending online school during the pandemic: Parliament on drop out rates