Over 60 crore Covid vaccine doses administered in India: Govt

New Delhi, August 25

The cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 60-crore mark on Wednesday, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.

Over 66 lakh (66,22,337) vaccine doses were administered on Wednesday, according to the 7 pm provisional report. Final reports would be completed for the day by late night.

“Under PM @NarendraModi ji’s #SabkoVaccineMuftVaccine initiative, India crossed the 60-crore vaccination mark. Congratulations everyone!” Mandaviya said in a tweet.

India took 85 days to touch 10 crore vaccinations. It then took 45 days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach 30 crore, he said.

The country took 24 days to reach 40 crore from 30 crore and then 20 more days to cross 50 crore vaccinations on August 6. It took 19 more days to go past the 60-crore mark, Mandaviya said.

Cumulatively, 22,73,78,071 individuals in the age group of 18-44 years across states and UTs have received their first dose and 2,22,21,573 have received their second dose since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive, according to health ministry data.

As on Day-222 of the vaccination drive ( August 25, 2021), 46,72,355 were vaccinated for the first dose and 19,49,982 beneficiaries received the second dose of vaccine, according to the provisional report till 7 pm, the health ministry data stated.

The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from Covid-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry said.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.

The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.

The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1. PTI