NEW DELHI: Vaccinations have increased significantly over the last two days after the government allowed all private hospitals with the necessary facilities to join the nationwide drive.
India administered nearly 11 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday, while close to 10 lakh shots were given on Wednesday.
The numbers are a big leap from the recent average of around five lakh doses per day. Over 50% of total vaccinations on Wednesday and Thursday were given to those aged 60 and above and those between 45 and 59 with co-morbidities.
On Thursday, over 10.9 lakh people received vaccines across the country till 7pm. Of this, around 4.9 lakh were those aged 60 and above, whereas 75,147 were those between 45 and 59 years with co-morbidities.
Overall, 1.7 crore vaccine doses were administered till Thursday evening, which included 68.4 lakh health and 60.2 lakh frontline workers getting their first doses. Over 30.8 lakh health and 54,177 frontline workers have also taken their second dose. Besides, 14.9 lakh senior citizen and 2.2 lakh people with specific co-morbidities have also received the first dose.
The increasing number of vaccinations is crucial also because many states, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka, continue to report a high number of daily new coronavirus cases.
While 17,407 new cases were registered on Wednesday, Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka together accounted for 85.5% of the new infections. Maharashtra reported the highest daily tally at 9,855.