India has administered 1 cr COVID-19 vaccine doses in 34 days, 2nd fastest after US, says Centre

New Delhi: India took 34 days to achieve the landmark feat of one crore COVID-19 vaccinations, the second fastest in the world, the health ministry said on Friday. The US took 31 days, while the UK took 56 days to surpass the one-crore vaccination mark. Till 8 am on Friday, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered to healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) in the country was 1,01,88,007. “A total of 1,01,88,007 vaccine doses have been administered through 2,11,462 sessions, as per the provisional report till 8 am. These include 62,60,242 HCWs (1st dose), 6,10,899 HCWs (2nd dose) and 33,16,866 FLWs (1st dose),” the ministry said. The second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination started being administered to those who have completed 28 days since the receipt of the first dose from 13 February. The vaccination of the FLWs started on 2 February. As on the 34th day of the vaccination drive (18 February), a total of 6,58,674 vaccine doses were administered, of which 4,16,942 beneficiaries were inoculated across 10,812 sessions for the first dose (HCWs and FLWs), while 2,41,732 HCWs received the second dose, the ministry stated. The country is witnessing a progressive increase in the number of vaccinations day by day, it underlined. Eight states account for 57.47 percent of the total vaccine doses administered in the country. Uttar Pradesh alone accounts for 10.5 percent (10,70,895). Seven states account for 60.85 percent of the second vaccine doses administered. Telangana leads the chart with a 12-percent (73,281) share of the second doses administered in the country. Sixteen states and Union territories have not reported any COVID-19 death in a span of 24 hours. These are Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Manipur, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Tripura, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The number of fatalities reported was between one and five in 15 states and Union territories, while it was between six and 10 in three states and Union territories. The number of active COVID-19 cases in India currently stands at 1,39,542, accounting for only 1.27 percent of its total caseload. The number of patients who have recuperated from the viral disease has gone up to over 1.06 crore (1,06,67,741) with 10,896 of them recovering in a span of 24 hours. The ministry said 83.15 percent of the new recoveries were reported from six states. Kerala reported the maximum number of single-day recoveries at 5,193, followed by Maharashtra (2,543) and Tamil Nadu (470). A total 13,193 fresh cases of the coronavirus infection were recorded in a span of 24 hours, the ministry said, adding that 86.6 percent of those were reported from six states. Maharashtra accounted for the highest number of 5,427 cases, followed by Kerala (4,584) and Tamil Nadu (457). Also, 97 fatalities due to COVID-19 were recorded in 24 hours, the ministry said, adding that five states account for 76.29 per cent of those. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (38), followed by Kerala (14) and Punjab (10).