Fully vaccinated adults surpass those with single dose of vaccine

New Delhi: The number of fully vaccinated individuals against COVID-19 has surpassed the partially vaccinated eligible population for the first time in the country, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday.

This feat has been made possible due to the prime minister's vision of 'Jan-Bhagidari' and Whole of Government Approach , people's faith and confidence in the government, and the ongoing 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign which has seen a tremendous response from various parts of the country, Mandaviya said.

"In a significant achievement to the nationwide vaccination coverage for the country, for the first time the number of fully vaccinated individuals has surpassed those who have been administered only a single dose of vaccine," the minister said in a statement.

The country has in total administered over 113.68 crore doses, according to the provisional report at 7 am on Wednesday.

This has been achieved through 1,16,73,459 sessions. Out of which, 75,57,24,081 doses were administered as first dose and 38,11,55,604 doses were administered as second dose. The number of fully vaccinated individuals (38,11,55,604) exceeds those who have been administered a single dose (37,45,68,477), the minister said.

The Union Health Minister congratulated the collective spirit of the country on this achievement. In a tweet, he appealed to all eligible citizens to get vaccinated.

We will win the battle against COVID-19 together, he stated.

The Union Health Minister expressed confidence that the country will have vaccinated every Indian by the end of the month-long 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign, according to the statement.

The staunch political commitment of the Government of India to protect every citizen from COVID-19 through vaccination has enabled the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive to achieve several feats ever since its inception on January 16, 2021.

"The nation achieved the distinction of having administered 100 crore doses on October 21. Subsequently, the prime minister gave a clarion call and launched the 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign on November 3 to knock at every door and reach out to every household and immunise every citizen against COVID-19 in the spirit of Antyodaya , Mandaviya said.

The month-long 'Har Ghar Dastak' vaccination campaign aims to ensure that all the adult population is covered with the first dose of vaccine, while those who are due for the second doses are motivated to take the second dose.

India's Covid tally rose to 3,44,66,598 on Wednesday with 10,197 fresh cases, while the active cases have declined to 1,28,555, the lowest in 527 days.

The death toll climbed to 4,64,153 after 301 more fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 40 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 143 consecutive days now.

The active cases have declined to 1,28,555 comprising 0.37 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.28 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the Health Ministry said. A decrease of 2,238 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.82 per cent. It has been less than 2 per cent for the last 44 days.

The weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 0.96 per cent. It has been below 2 per cent for the last 54 days, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,38,73,890, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.35 per cent.