India administered 10cr jabs of Covid vaccine in last 13 days: Govt

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 70 crore, with the last 10 crore doses being given in just 13 days, the fastest so far, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.

More than 67 lakh (67,43,698) doses have been administered till 7 pm, it said.

The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with compilation of final reports for the day by late night.

The coronavirus has to be defeated and vaccination is the way to victory, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, while congratulating the country and healthcare workers for the achieving the 70-crore landmark.

'Soaring higher on COVID-19 vaccination under PM (Prime Minister) @NarendraModi ji's leadership. 70,00,00,000 vaccine doses administered to date,' he tweeted.

Congratulations to all health workers and people for this momentous achievement, he said.

India took 85 days to touch 10 crore vaccinations, 45 days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach 30 crore, Mandaviya said.

The country took 24 days to reach 40 crore from 30 crore doses and then 20 more days to cross 50 crore vaccinations on August 6.

It took 19 more days to go past the 60-crore mark and took only 13 days to reach 70 crore from 60 crore, the fastest so far, he said on Twitter.

According to ministry data, 53,96,20,217 beneficiaries were vaccinated for the first dose and 16,67,35,579 beneficiaries received their second dose, according to the 7 pm provisional report.

Cumulatively, 28,12,08,799 people in the age group 18-44 years across all states and UTs have received their first dose and 3,72,19,545 have received their second dose since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase.

The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.

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