More than 5 crore coronavirus vaccine doses given across India, milestone achieved on 67th day of COVID-19 vaccination drive

New Delhi: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Tuesday (March 23, 2021) said that more than 5 crore coronavirus vaccine doses have been given across India, a milestone which has been achieved on the 67th day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive.

"India has crossed a significant milestone in the fight against the global pandemic. The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 5 crores today," the MoHFW said.

As per the provisional report till 7 pm on Tuesday, a total of 5,00,75,162 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given. These include 79,03,068 Health Care Workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 50,09,252 HCWs who have taken the second dose, 83,33,713 Front Line Workers (FLWs) (first dose), 30,60,060 FLWs (second dose), 2,12,03,700 beneficiaries more than 60 years old and 45,65,369 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities.

This is to be noted that India had started the world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16, 2021.

The news comes on a day when the Centre announced that now the people above 45 years of age can also take the COVID-19 vaccine. 

"It has been decided that from April 1, the COVID-19 vaccine will open for everybody above 45 years of age. We request that all eligible should immediately register and get vaccinated," said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Javadekar also approved the decision of increasing the time interval between two doses of Covishield.

"As per the advice by scientists and world scientist bodies, the second dose can be administered between 4th and 8th week, particularly for Covishield. We appeal that all above 45 should take the vaccine as early as possible that will provide them shield against COVID-19," stated Javadekar.

Meanwhile, India reported 40,715 new coronavirus infections on Monday, according to the data of the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry. With this, the country's total COVID-19 caseload has increased to 1,16,86,796. Six states namely Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu together account for 80.90 per cent of the new cases.

On the other hand, India has also witnessed more than 1.11 crore recoveries.