Published 17:00 IST, February 16th 2021
India's administers 87,40,595 COVID-19 vaccine doses; active cases fall below 1.4 lakhs
As India's second dose of COVID-19 vaccination begins, Centre revealed on Tuesday that 87,40,595 doses have been administered till date - since the drive began
As India's second dose of COVID-19 vaccination begins, Centre revealed on Tuesday that 87,40,595 doses have been administered till date. With active cases falling below 1.4 lakhs, Kerala and Maharashtra with 61,550 and 37,383 active cases respectively account for 72% of the total active cases in the country, said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan. India's COVID-19 positivity rate is at 5.27%, with 56 new cases per million cases reported in the last 7 days.
Centre: Active cases falls below 1.4 lakh
Briefing on the vaccination drive, Bhushan said, "Rajasthan, Sikkim, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura & Bihar, Chhattisgarh, MP, Uttarakhand, Lakshwadeep, Tripura administered the first doses of vaccine to more than 70% of the registered healthcare workers. Meanwhile, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Assam, UP, Telangana, Tripura, Gujarat and Goa have administered the second dose to more than 60% of the eligible healthcare workers". Moreover, 24 countries have been sent COVID-19 vaccine from India so far.
No post-jab death: Dr. Harsh Vardhan
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan announced that inoculation for people above 50 will kick-off in March. Furthermore, he stated that none of 11 deaths that occurred in the past 31 days after vaccination is related to the vaccine. Moreover, he revealed that 80-85% of frontline workers have been vaccinated and that 20-25 countries are to be availed of COVID-19 vaccine.
He added, "80-85% frontline workers vaccinated. At least 18-20 vaccines are in preclinical, clinical & advanced stages. Expect them in the coming months. We will be in a situation to administer vaccines to those above 50 years of age in March. In the last 7 days, no new cases of COVID19 have been reported in 188 districts of the country."
Centre sets March 6 vaccination deadline
Setting a deadline for completing vaccinating frontline workers by March 6, Union Joint Health Secretary Mandeep Bhandari on Friday, said at least one round of vaccination must be scheduled by March 1. Stating those who have not been vaccinated for any reason must be vaccinated by March 6, he said that the scheduling of the first round of vaccination of healthcare workers must be scheduled by February 20 and completed by February 25. India started its first phase of COVID-19 vaccination from January 16 - using the two vaccines of Serum Institue of India (Covishield) and Bharat Biotech (Covaxin).
Updated 17:00 IST, February 16th 2021