On the 273rd day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, 3.39 lakh beneficiaries received their first shot and 4.96 lakh their second dose. (Representative image: Reuters)

On the 273rd day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, 3.39 lakh beneficiaries received their first shot and 4.96 lakh their second dose. (Representative image: Reuters)

More than 8.36 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses were administered in India on October 15, taking the total number of jabs to over 97.23 crore, the Union Health Ministry said.

On the 273rd day of the vaccination drive, 3.39 lakh beneficiaries received their first shot and 4.96 lakh their second dose.

After a slow start, India’s vaccination drive picked up over the last few weeks. It took the country 85 days to give the first 10 crore doses, the next 10 crore took 45 days and, in another 29 days, India touched the 30-crore mark.

The country took 24 days to reach 40 crore and 20 days to cross 50-crore doses on August 6. By September 13, 75 crore COVID-19 vaccines had been given. The biggest jump, however, came on September 17, when more than 2.1 crore doses were given in a day.

The government has revised the gap between the two doses for the Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), to 12-16 weeks. However, the interval for the second dose of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin remains unchanged at four weeks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide vaccination drive on January 16, with healthcare workers at the frontline of India’s Covid-19 battle getting their first jabs. The next phase of vaccination commenced on March 1 for people over 60 years and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. From April 1, the drive was expanded to include all aged 45 and above.

The government then decided to expand the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.

Let’s check out some major developments related to the vaccination:

– As many as 6.64 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Gujarat so far, including 90,161 during the day, according to an official release.

– Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met the Director General of WTO Ngozi Okonjo Iweala in the US on the day amidst India’s proposal for a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines and medicines worldwide. The meeting between Sitharaman and Iweala took place on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF annual meetings.

– More than 100 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states and union territories so far, the Union Health Ministry said on the day. Over 10.53 crore (10,53,11,155) balance and unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered, it said.

– The US will allow fully vaccinated foreign travellers to enter the country from November 8, the White House announced on the day. With the announcement of the implementation of the new date, the US will essentially lift travel restrictions from countries like India, United Kingdom and China.

– The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said late on the day that it will accept mixed-dose coronavirus vaccines from international travelers, a boost to travelers from Canada and other places. The CDC said last week that it would accept any vaccine authorized for use by US regulators or the World Health Organization.

– Pharmaceutical company Pfizer and biotechnology company BioNTech said the day that they have requested to have their coronavirus vaccine licensed for children ages 5 to 11 across the European Union. If EU regulators agree, it would be the first opportunity for younger children in Europe to get immunized against COVID-19.

Here is the vaccination count for states/UTs

States Total Beneficiaries
Andhra Pradesh 4,63,72,370
Arunachal Pradesh 12,47,467
Assam 2,62,13,269
Bihar  6,14,47,199
Chandigarh  14,16,424
Chhattisgarh 1,99,35,013
Delhi 1,94,43,875
Goa 20,55,539
Gujarat  6,64,25,269
Haryana 2,45,82,237
Himachal Pradesh 86,99,256
Jammu and Kashmir 1,35,93,755
Jharkhand  1,90,52,464
Karnataka 6,05,97,299
Kerala 3,70,61,667
Madhya Pradesh  6,59,47,713
Maharashtra 9,07,87,384
Odisha 3,39,11,084
Punjab  2,10,81,116
Rajasthan 5,99,16,179
Tamil Nadu 5,26,62,885
Telangana 2,84,77,735
Uttar Pradesh 11,78,04,070
Uttarakhand 1,08,64,938
West Bengal 6,56,14,967

COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: Over 8.36 lakh doses given on October 15
Source: Trend Updates Article