India fastest to inoculate million people, administered 5th highest number of COVID-19 vaccines till 26 January

New Delhi: India has carried out the fifth highest number of COVID-19 vaccinations by inoculating 2.03 million people till 26 January, the Health Ministry said, stressing the number of beneficiaries who have received the shots has crossed 25 lakh till Thursday afternoon.

Addressing a press conference, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that India was the fastest country to reach 1 million COVID-19 vaccinations in six days, while the US took 10 days, Spain 12, Israel 14, the UK 18, Italy 19, Germany 20 and UAE 27 days.

"As per our world data till 26 January, India, which launched its nationwide vaccination drive on 16 January, had carried out the fifth highest number of vaccinations in the world by vaccinating 2.03 million people. The important point is many other countries are showing their progress for over 50 days while India is showing its vaccination on 26 January after just 11 days," Bhushan said.

Till 26 January, the US had administered 23.54 million doses, the UK 7.64 million doses, UAE 2.76 million doses, Germany 1.99 million doses, Italy 1.58 million dose, Spain 1.36 million doses and France 1.14 million doses.

Bhushan said that the number of beneficiaries who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in India since the nationwide drive was rolled out has reached 25,07,556 till 28 January at 2 pm.

Lakshadweep (83.4 pc), Odisha (50.7 pc), Haryana (50 pc), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (48.3 pc), Rajasthan (46.8 pc), Tripura (45.6 pc), Mizoram (40.5 pc), Telangana (40.3 pc), Andhra Pradesh (38.1 pc), Karnataka (35.6 pc) and Madhya Pradesh (35.5 pc) are among the better performing states with over 35 per cent vaccination coverage of healthcare workers, he said.

On the other hand, Tamil Nadu (15.7 pc), Delhi (15.7 pc), Jharkhand (14.7 pc), Uttarakhand (17.1 pc), Chhattisgarh (20.6 pc) and Maharashtra (20.7 pc) have less than 21 pc vaccination coverage and need to improve, he said.

India's cumulative COVID-19 positivity rate is 5.51 pc and is declining while the active cases are less then 1.75 lakh after seven months and is declining, Bhushan stated.

Two states, Kerala and Maharashtra, account for 67 per cent of total active COVID-19 cases in country, he said.

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