Ahmedabad: Gujarat crossed the 6-crore vaccination mark on Monday, with the latest 1 crore doses being administered in just 20 days, reflecting improved vaccine availability and increased pace of vaccination drive.
Gujarat had touched the 5-crore vaccination mark on September 7, and the period of 20 days taken to administer the 1 crore doses is the fastest yet in the state, health department data shows.
Covid-19 vaccination drive was launched in the state on January 16, and it took the state 86 days to reach the 1 crore figure on April 12.
The 2 crore mark was achieved 60 days later on June 12, and the 3 crore mark after 38 days on July 21. The state took 25 days to reach the 4 crore vaccination milestone on August 15, and 23 days to reach the 5 crore mark on September 7.
The mega vaccination drive on September 17, PM Narendra Modi’s birthday, when a record 23.68 lakh vaccine doses were administered in the state, contributed a great deal to the quicker pace of vaccination.
Nationally, 86.87 crore vaccine doses have been administered as of Monday. Over 22.94 crore people in India have received both doses of the vaccine, while 63.93 crore have received at least one dose, according to Co-WIN data.
In Gujarat, 1.84 crore people have received both vaccine doses, while 4.15 crore have received at least one dose. In Ahmedabad city, the number of vaccine doses administered is 63.14 lakh, including 20.52 lakh people who have received both doses, and 42.61 lakh with at least one dose.
As per officials, over 84% of the state’s eligible population of 4.93 crore has received at least one dose of the vaccine so far.
“Our efforts are to vaccinate every eligible person in the state. We appeal to everyone to get the vaccine at the earliest,” said Jai Prakash Shivahare, state’s health commissioner.
Uttar Pradesh with 10.33 crore doses, Maharashtra with 7.93 crore, and Madhya Pradesh with 6.21 crore are the other states that have administered 6 crore or more doses so far.