India crosses 90-crore COVID vaccination milestone, but daily inoculation rate dips

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has said that on Saturday, total COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 90 crore.

“The Union government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country,” the health ministry said.

It also said the vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states and UTs to enable better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.

India administered a record two crore-plus vaccine shots on September 17 to mark the birthday of PM Narendra Modi. But two weeks later, the daily vaccination rate has slid back to what it was a week before the push.

According to data, the daily average rate of vaccination, which crossed 95 lakh doses on September 17, has again come down to 70-75 lakh.

Also read: After boost to mark Modi’s birthday, vaccination drive back at old levels

India had administered one crore vaccines for the first time on August 27.

The countrywide vaccination drive was kick-started on January 16 with the first preference given to healthcare workers. The vaccination of frontline workers was 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 co-morbidities.

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.

(With inputs from Agencies)