India vaccinates over 10m in a day

Healthcare worker Jankhana Prajapati gives a dose of the domestically manufactured COVISHIELD vaccine to villager Amiyaben Dabhi during a door-to-door vaccination drive in Banaskantha district in the western state of Gujarat, India 23 July 2021.
Reuters file photo

India for the first time administered more than 10 million doses of vaccines in a day on Friday under its nationwide mass vaccination drive against Covid-19.

This is the highest-ever vaccination achieved in a single day since the start of the vaccination drive.

In another significant achievement, India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage has crossed the 620 million-landmark and presently stands at 621,706,882, as per the provisional report of the Indian health ministry.

Hailing the feat, prime minister Narendra Modi said, "Record vaccination numbers today! Crossing 1 crore (10 million) is a momentous feat. Kudos to those getting vaccinated and those making the vaccination drive a success."

Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, "Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas - This is the same effort by which the country has crossed the figure of more than 10 million vaccines in a day. The tireless work of health workers and prime minister Modi's determination to ‘#SabkoVaccineMuftVaccine’ is paying off."

In a separate development, India has also crossed the landmark milestone of administering at least one dose of Covid vaccine to 50 per cent of its adult population.

India's dose administration rate was around 1.8 million per day before 21 June. However, since then, it had gone up to almost half 5 million per day.