28,252 mucormycosis cases reported from 28 states/UTs: Vardhan

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said 28,252 cases of mucormycosis have so far been reported from 28 states/UTs in the country, of which 86 per cent cases have a history of COVID-19 and 62.3 per cent with a history of diabetes.

Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of mucormycosis cases (6,339) followed by Gujarat (5,486), he said after chairing the 28th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 via video conferencing, a health ministry statement said.

V K Paul, member (Health), NITI Aayog presented a brief snapshot of the country's vaccination status, preparedness for pediatric COVID-19 care, and the way forward to prevent the third wave of the infection, at the conference.

He said India took 141 days to reach the 23 crore-mark in terms of cumulative doses administered, which remains the second highest in the world after the US which did the same in 134 days. "India is also one of the world's fastest countries in terms of number of doses administered so far. Out of 88.7 crore people who have been administered at least one dose globally, India accounts for 17.9 crore, which is 20.2 per cent of the global coverage," Paul maintained.

He also remarked that India is fully prepared to deal with pediatric COVID-19 care, but caution remains the key.

Vardhan noted that till Monday morning, 23,27,86,482 vaccine doses were administered to citizens in various categories.