India crosses 20 crore vaccinations mark in 130 days
Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 May, 2021 09:56 AM
New Delhi, May 26 (IANS) India has crossed 20 crore cumulative Covid-19 vaccinations, achieving this milestone in 130 days since the start of the vaccination drive on January 16, the Health and Family Welfare Ministry said on Wednesday.
On the 130th day, the cumulative Covid vaccination coverage stood at 20,06,62,456 doses, including 15,71,49,593 first doses and 4,35,12,863 second doses, as per data available at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
India is the second country after the US, which took 124 days, to achieve this level.
Also, as per the data available on Our World In Data and multiple news articles, other leading countries in Covid vaccination drive include the UK which has reached 5.1 crore mark in 168 days, Brazil with 5.9 crore in 128 days, and Germany which reached 4.5 crore mark in 149 days.
As per the latest available data with the Union Health Ministry, over 34 per cent population above 45 years, and 42 per cent above 60 years, has received at least the first dose of the vaccine so far.
As of date, India is using three vaccines against COVID-19 in its immunisation drive; these include two made in India vaccines - Serum Institute of India's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. The Russian Sputnik V is the third vaccine to get approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for Emergency Use Authorisation and is being used in few private hospitals so far.
In Phase 1 of the vaccination drive, started on January 16, the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) prioritised all health care workers, and front line workers, while Phase 2, starting from March 1, focused on protecting the most vulnerable age group - persons above 60 years of age and persons above 45 years with associated specified co-morbidities. This was further relaxed to all people above 45 years of age on April 1.
In Phase 3, under the "Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy" adopted on May 1, everyone above 18 years of age was eligible for the vaccination.
From the corridors of power in New Delhi to the bylanes of Hyderabad to a village in Nagaland, the entire country shuts down starting 12 a.m. on the intervening night of March 24 and 25.
An astounding 84 per cent of people in India believe that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is handling the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak well.
A day after being denied permission to land in India, a KLM flight with 113 Indians who were stranded in Amsterdam landed in New Delhi on Sunday evening.
The Tihar jail authorities on Thursday told the trial court that none of the legal remedies of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case are pending, as the court reserved its order on an application filed by the convicts seeking stay on their execution scheduled for 5.30 a.m. on Friday.
