New Delhi [India], August 18 : India achieved a landmark of administrating over 56 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses till date under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive, the Union Ministry of Health informed on Wednesday. “India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 56 Crore landmark yesterday. Cumulatively, 56,06,52,030 vaccine doses have been administered through 62,67,149 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today,” the ministry stated in a press release. As many as 55,05,075 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours; including 41,79,215 first doses, and 13,25,860 second doses. With 6,06,06,763 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered, Uttar Pradesh became the first Indian state to cross the 6-crore mark. Following closely, Maharashtra crossed the 5-crore mark and has administered 5,07,52,443 COVID-19 vaccines till date. Gujarat, with 4,12,62,937 COVID-19 vaccines administered so far, crossed the 4-crore mark. Uttar Pradesh also becomes the state that has administered the highest number of first dose of COVID-19 vaccines (5,11,23,307). Further, the ministry informed that India’s recovery rate stands at 97.52 per cent; the highest since March 2020. “Out of the people infected since the beginning of the pandemic, 3,14,85,923 people have already recovered from COVID-19 and 37,169 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours,” the release stated. With less than 50,000 daily new cases reported since the 52nd consecutive day, India has reported 35,178 daily new cases in the last 24 hours. India’s active caseload at 3,67,415 is the lowest in 148 days; they now constitute only 1.14 per cent of the country’s total positive cases, which is the lowest since March 2020. With substantially ramped up testing capacity across the country, a total of 17,97,559 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours in the country. Cumulatively, India has conducted over 49.84 crore (49,84,27,083) tests so far, the ministry informed. While on one side testing capacity has been enhanced across the country, the weekly positivity rate, presently at 1.95 per cent has remained below 3 per cent for the last 54 days now. The daily positivity rate at 1.96 per cent has also remained below 3 per cent for the last 23 days.
