India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered crossed the 200 crore mark on Sunday, 17 July, making this a major milestone in the vaccination programme.
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh turned out to be the top five states with the highest number of vaccines given until 7 am on Sunday. The health ministry data revealed that vaccination centres in urban areas account for 71 percent of the jabs doled out and rural areas for 29 percent of the doses.
India had crossed the 100 crore mark on 21 October last year and the 150 crore mark on 7 January. The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on 16 January 2021 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase.
Jabs Administered per Age Group
While 90 percent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated, 98 percent have received at least one dose, the health ministry data said.
Sixty-eight percent adolescents aged 15-18, the vaccination for whom began on 3 January, have been fully vaccinated and 82 percent have received the first dose.
Meanwhile, in the 12-14 age group, 56 percent have been fully vaccinated and 81 percent have been administered with the first dose.
Of the total doses, 48.9 percent were given to women and 51.5 percent to men. The 'Others' category received 0.02 percent doses, the data said.
A total of 5,63,67,888 precaution doses have been administered to the eligible population.
'Proud of India': Modi, WHO and Others React
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to say that India "had created history again" with this vaccination milestone. "Proud of those who contributed to making India's vaccination drive unparalleled in scale and speed," he added.
Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, while congratulating everyone involved in the vaccination drives, said that "India has scripted history under PM Narendra Modi Ji's visionary leadership."
The World Health Organization's (WHO) South East Asia wing congratulated India for making it to this milestone, too. "This is yet another evidence of the country's commitment and efforts to minimise the impact of the ongoing pandemic," its Regional Director Dr Poonam Khetarpal Singh said.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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