By Wednesday, June 16, India had administered over 265 million doses of coronavirus vaccine. Despite new evidence showing that the second dose of Covishield vaccine should be given sooner for better protection against the prevalent Delta variant, the Centre defended its decision to keep a long gap between the two doses.
Harsh Vardhan, the health minister, stated that the decision was made in a transparent manner based on scientific data.
Meanwhile, by 7 p.m. on Wednesday, India had administered 265,317,472 vaccine doses. There are 10,087,937 healthcare workers who have received their first dose and 7,017,515 who have received their second dose. A total of 16,955,109 frontline workers have received their first dose, with another 8,936,126 receiving their second dose.
77,884,703 people in the 45-60 age group have received their first dose, and another 12,292,589 have received their second dose. In the 60+ age group, 63,522,368 people have received their first dose, with another 20,446,074 receiving their second dose.
On Tuesday, 2,067,085 beneficiaries in the 18-45 year age group received their first dose of Covid vaccine, while 67,447 received their second dose, bringing the total number of people in this age group to 47,206,953 who have received their first dose and 968,098 who have received their second dose to 47,206,953.
By the evening, 3,262,233 vaccine doses had been administered. A total of 2,905,658 people were vaccinated with the first dose, and 356,575 people were vaccinated with the second dose.
According to the latest health ministry update, India saw 67,208 new cases and 2,330 deaths on Thursday. The total number of people killed in the country now stands at 29,700,313, with 381,903 people killed.
