India Has Vaccinated Over 30 Lakh People Against COVID-19 In 13 Days, The Fastest In The World

India was one of the countries that began rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination programme to its people, late, when compared to the likes of US and Europe.

But ever since the vaccines were made available, two weeks ago, starting with frontline healthcare workers, the country has been clocking impressive coverage every single day.

AFP

And in less than two weeks since the inoculation began, over 30 lakh frontline healthcare workers have been given the first dose of the vaccine.

Over 33 lakh vaccinated

According to the provisional report, a total of 33,68,734 beneficiaries in the country had been vaccinated against COVID-19 through 62,939 sessions till 7 PM on Friday, the ministry said.

On Friday alone, s many as 4,40,681 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 7 PM.

Reuters

According to the data shared by the Health Ministry, India crossed the 30 lakh (3 million) mark in 13 days.

Ahead of US, Israel, UK

In comparison, it took the US, 18 days, Israel 33 days, and the United Kingdom 36 days to reach the 3 million milestones.

India was also the fastest to reach one million and two million vaccination marks, the health ministry data showed.

Reuters

The total number of beneficiaries who have been vaccinated so far include 1,77,856 from Andhra Pradesh, 1,10,381 from Bihar, 1,35,832 from Kerala, 3,07,752 from Karnataka, 2,22,193 from Madhya Pradesh, 2,57,173 from Maharashtra, 97,126 from Tamil Nadu, 48,008 from Delhi, 2,16,004 from Gujarat, 4,31,879 from Uttar Pradesh and 2,20,356 from West Bengal, according to the provisional report.

According to the ministry, 213 adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs) were reported till 7 pm on Friday.

In the first phase, where both Covidhied and Covaxin have been used was inaugurated on January 16 to cover healthcare and frontline workers.

AFP

In the first phase, the country is aiming to make the vaccine available for 3 crore frontline health workers.

In the second phase which is likely to start in March-April, people above the age of 60 and those with co-morbidities will be given the vaccine.

India, which has the world's second-highest number of coronavirus cases, is relying on CoWIN to link beneficiaries with vaccines.

CoWIN would be integrated into the government contact-tracing app "Aarogya Setu", which has been downloaded by around 150 million people.

AFP

In the second phase, individuals would be able to choose vaccination slots and get QR-coded certificates once they have taken their shots through CoWIN, allowing them to carry a proof that can be used for, say, air or foreign travel.