India set to touch 100 crore Covid vaccination mark

WHY IN THE NEWS?

India crossed another significant milestone in its fight against the covid-19 pandemic on October 21, 2021. It touched the mark of 100 crore Covid vaccinations including the first as well as second doses.

About:

• On the other hand, India reported 18,454 new cases in the last 24 hours.
• Currently, the active caseload stands at 1,78,831.
• The recovery rate stands at 98.15 per cent, accounting for the highest since March 2020.
• With 160 Covid patients lost life to Covid-19 infection in the last 24 hours, total death now stands around 4.52 lakh.

Vaccination count

Data on vaccines shows that India’s inoculation drive has been fairly equitable. More than 65 per cent of total vaccine doses are being administered across rural areas. 74 per cent of the estimated adult population have received first dose of the vaccine while 31 per cent are fully vaccinated.

India’s vaccination drive

India started its COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16, 2021. As of October 21, 2021, India has crossed 100 crores mark, including first and second doses. About half of the eligible population has got at least one shot, while 19 per cent have received both the doses. India initially approved Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine and Covaxin. Later, these vaccines were joined by the Sputnik V, Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Moderna vaccines and ZyCoV-D.

First Phase of Vaccination

In the first phase of vaccination, about 30 million health who were directly dealing with Covid-19 patients as well as frontline workers received the vaccine.  In subsequent phases, vaccination plan was rolled out for other people.