As many as 56,91,552 anti-Covid vaccines were administered till 7 pm on Friday across the country, taking the total vaccination count to nearly 73 crore (72,97,50,724, said the Union health ministry.

Cumulatively, 29,29,64,853 persons in the 18-44 category across all states and union territories have received their first dose and a total of 4,10,29,755 have received their second dose since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive.

In the age group 45-59, a total of 14,19,67,823 people have received their first dose of vaccine so far and 6,16,31,140 have got both the doses. 

As of day-238 of the vaccination drive, a total of 38,36,154 beneficiaries were vaccinated for the first dose and 18,55,398 beneficiaries received the second dose of vaccine as per the provisional report till 7 pm.

Meanwhile, India logged 34,973 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,31,74,954, while the active cases declined to 3,90,646.

The death toll climbed to 4,42,009 with 260 fresh fatalities, according to the Union health ministry data updated at 8 am. 

The active cases comprise 1.18% of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.49%, the ministry said.

A reduction of 2,968 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

As many as 17,87,611 tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of Covid-19 in the country to 53,86,04,854.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.96%. It has been less than three per cent for the last 11 days

The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.31%. It has been below three per cent for the last 77 days, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,23,42,299, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33%.