India is the fastest country to reach the one million vaccination mark, the government said on Thursday, while also commending 11 states and Union Territories for the speed of their coverage.
More than 25 lakh (2.5 million) people, including healthcare workers, have been vaccinated in the last 13 days, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, noting that India crossed the one million mark in merely six days, the fastest amongst all the countries.
The US had crossed the crucial milestone in 10 days, followed by Spain in 12 days, Israel in 14 days, the UK in 18 days, Italy in 19 days, Germany in 20 days, and the UAE in 27 days.
Bhushan said that 11 states have performed better in vaccination coverage of the healthcare workers and have covered more than 30 percent of the targeted beneficiaries.
This includes Lakshadweep, which has covered 83.4 percent of the targeted beneficiaries, followed by Odisha (50.7 percent), Haryana (50 percent), and Andaman and Nicobar (48.3 percent). "This is a commendable achievement," he said.
Besides this, the Ministry pulled up six states who need to improve and speed up their vaccination drive. This includes Jharkhand which has only covered 14.7 percent of the target and Delhi (15.7 percent).
The nationwide vaccination drive had started on 16 January with the help of two vaccines – Covaxin and Covishield. Initially, the government aims to vaccinate one crore healthcare workers and two crore frontline workers.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)