India vaccinates over 80 lakh in a day, BJP-ruled states account for most

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New Delhi: In a landmark achievement, nearly 81 lakh (80,95,314) doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered on Monday (May 21), the first day of the new phase of the vaccination drive.

Out of the total, the BJP-ruled states accounted for the maximum number of vaccine doses administered across the country.

Madhya Pradesh topped the numbers with a total of 1542632 doses administered. It was followed by Karnataka which vaccinated 1067734 people in a day.

Uttar Pradesh (674546), Gujarat (502173) and Haryana (472659) stood at the third, fourth and fifth position in terms of vaccination coverage on the given day.

“During the month of May 2021, more than 7.9 crore vaccines were available for the nationwide COVID19 Vaccination exercise. These were ramped up to 11.78 crore in June 2021. These include the free supply of vaccines to States and UTs from Government of India, those directly procured by the States/UTs and those directly procured by the private hospitals,” Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement on Tuesday.

“States were provided advance visibility of the vaccine doses available to them in the month of June 2021. This advance information enabled the States to prepare vaccine distribution plans district-wise and COVID Vaccination Centre  (CVC) wise in an effective manner. This facilitated a massive ramping up of the vaccine administration across the country,” it added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the feat as "gladdening" and asserted that the vaccine remains our strongest weapon to fight the disease.

"Today’s record-breaking vaccination numbers are gladdening. The vaccine remains our strongest weapon to fight COVID-19. Congratulations to those who got vaccinated and kudos to all the front-line warriors working hard to ensure so many citizens got the vaccine. Well done India!" he tweeted.

Today’s record-breaking vaccination numbers are gladdening. The vaccine remains our strongest weapon to fight COVID-19. Congratulations to those who got vaccinated and kudos to all the front-line warriors working hard to ensure so many citizens got the vaccine.

Well done India! — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 21, 2021