13.3 cr people yet to get 1st dose of vaccine: Govt

New Delhi: India was in 17th position in terms of proportion of population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as on October 31, Union Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told the Lok Sabha on Friday.

In a written reply to a query in the Lower House, she said that as of December 8, around 13.3 crore beneficiaries against an estimated adult population of 93.9 crore are yet to get the first dose of Covid vaccine.

Of those who got the first dose, 33.6 crore — 17.2 crore male, 16.4 crore female and 90,000 of 'other gender' — are yet to receive the second jab, Pawar said.

The top 10 major countries (with an estimated population of more than five crore) by the share of fully vaccinated people were South Korea, Japan, Italy, France, the UK, Germany, the USA, Turkey, Brazil and Mexico, the minister said quoting data from www.ourworldindata.org.

She also said that a total of 108 countries recognise the Indian COVID-19 vaccination certificate for travel purpose.

She informed the Lok Sabha that over 96 per cent (108.55 crore) of the total Covid vaccine doses administered in the country since May 1 were given at government centres, while 3.7 per cent (4.12 crore) were at private facilities.

As on December 7, a total of 4.61 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been procured by private hospitals and 49 lakh doses are balance with them, she said.

Pawar said that the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) and the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) are considering scientific evidences related to justification for booster doses against the Coronavirus.

As per information available on www.ourworldindata.org, more than 60 countries are providing booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines, Pawar said in a written reply in the House.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that around 86 per cent of India's eligible population has received the first dose of Covid vaccine and the government wishes that 100 per cent vaccination is achieved at the earliest.

Replying to supplementary questions in the Lok Sabha, Mandaviya also said that 7 crore vaccines are lying with states and also cautioned against possible vaccine hesistancy that could be triggered by claims of health complications after vaccination.