The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 71 crore, with more than 73 lakh doses administered in the country today, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.
The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with compilation of final reports for the day by late night.
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, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had said earlier.
According to ministry data, 50,42,806 beneficiaries were vaccinated for the first dose and 23,37,704 beneficiaries received their second dose, according to the 7 pm provisional report.
Cumulatively, 28,57,04,140 people in the age group 18-44 years across all states and UTs have received their first dose and 3,85,99,523 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.
