New Delhi, Jan. 21 -- The Union Health Ministry said that a total of 4,54,049 people have been inoculated since the commencement of the vaccination drive, and only 0.18 per cent of beneficiaries developed adverse events following immunization, while 0.002 per cent were hospitalized.

"The adverse events following immunization are fairly low. In fact, these are the lowest in the world in the first three days. In India, we have an extremely robust system of adverse events following immunization reporting and management," said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in a bid to allay fears and vaccine hesitancy.

According to the government's data, 580 adverse events have been reported so far, out of which seven required hospitalization.

"Onl...