Over 25 lakhs beneficiaries vaccinated against COVID-19 in India

As many as 25,07,556 beneficiaries have been vaccinated for COVID-19 till 2 pm on Thursday across the country, Union Health Ministry informed.

In the press briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan informed that there is an increase in COVID-19 vaccination sessions per day.

"On January 16 when vaccination session started, 3,374 sessions were orgsed which has increased to 7,764 sessions on January 26. By January 16, over two lakh beneficiaries were vaccinated, but today, the number of beneficiaries has crossed 25 lakhs," he said.

He said India was the fastest to reach the first 1 million vaccinations.

'We achieved this within 6 days, US did this in 10 days, Spain in 12 days, Israel in 14 days, UK in 18 days, Italy in 19 days, Germany in 20 days and UAE in 27 days," Bhushan stated.

The Health Secretary also expressed 'deep appriciation for' states and Union Territories like -- Lakshadweep (83 per cent heathcare workers vaccinated), Odisha (more than 50 per cent beneficiaries vaccinated), and Haryana (59 per cent beneficiaries vaccinated) anong others for covering a large number of beneficiaries in a short time.

He also said states and Uinon Terratories like Jharkhand (14 per cent healthcare workers vaccinated), Delhi and Tamil Nadu (more than 15 per cent healthcare workers vaccinated), Uttarakhand, (17 per cent healthcare workers vaccinated), among other states need to impove their vaccination drive.

The Union Health Secretary further informed that there are 1,75,000 active cases in the country currently.

"Number of active cases are declining, there are 1,75,000 active cases in the country as of now - a steady and declining trend is being exhibited. Two states still have 40,000 or more active cases - Kerala with 72,000 active cases and Maharashtra with 44,000 active cases," he stated.

According to the Union Health Secretary there is a declining trend in daily deaths due to Coronavirus, and after eight months, India is reporting less than 125 deaths per day. "India reported 123 deaths in the last 24 hours", he added.

( With inputs from ANI )