India has carried out the fifth highest number of Covid-19 vaccinations by inoculating 2.03 million people till January 26. India has administered over 25 lakh vaccine doses so far, till Thursday afternoon.
According to the Health Ministry, the number of active cases are declining, there are 1,75,000 active cases in the country as of now. Two States still have 40,000 or more active cases and contribute 67 per cent of the total caseload — Kerala with 72,000 active cases and Maharashtra with 44,000 active cases.
Addressing a Press conference, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said India has become the fastest country to reach one million Covid-19 vaccination. “We achieved this within 6 days, the US did this in 10 days, Spain in 12 days, Israel in 14 days, the UK in 18 days, Italy in 19 days, Germany in 20 days and UAE in 27 days,” said Bhushan.
“As per our world data till January 26, India, which launched its nationwide vaccination drive on January 16, 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 January 26 after just 11 days,” Bhushan said.
Till January 26, the US had administered 23.54 million doses, the UK 7.64 million doses, the UAE 2.76 million doses, Germany 1.99 million doses, Italy 1.58 million doses, 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 January 28 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 per cent vaccination coverage and need to improve, he said.
Giving details of Covid-19 cases in the country, Bhushan said that the number of active cases are declining, there are 1,75,000 active cases in the country as of now. A steady and declining trend is being exhibited. Two States still have 40,000 or more active cases and contribute 67 per cent of the total caseload - Kerala with 72,000 active cases and Maharashtra with 44,000 active cases. India’s cumulative Covid-19 positivity rate is 5.51 per cent and is declining.
India’s cumulative Covid-19 positivity rate is 5.51 per cent and is declining while the active cases are less than 1.75 lakh after seven months and is declining, Bhushan stated.
Earlier in the day, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that India has flattened its Covid-19 graph and 146 districts have reported no new case of the viral disease in the last seven days, 18 in 14 days, six in 21 days and 21 districts in the last 28 days.
This has been achieved due to pro-active testing with more than 19.5 crore Covid-19 tests conducted in the country so far, Vardhan, who chaired the 23rd meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on Covid-19 through a video-conference, said, according to a statement issued by the Health Ministry. Meanwhile, India’s Covid-19 tally of cases crossed 1.07 crore with 11,666 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, while the national recovery rate climbed to 96.94 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.