69% of India's adult population jabbed with at least one vax dose, 25% both: Govt

New Delhi: Sixty-nine per cent of the country's adult population has received at least one dose of Covid vaccine and 25 per cent has taken both doses, the government said on Thursday.

It also said that increased population density raises chances of Covid spread and it will be prudent to avoid non-essential travel and observe festivity at low key.

Meanwhile, as many as 30 medical students of civic-run KEM Hospital in Mumbai have tested positive for COVID-19, a BMC official said on Thursday. One of the MBBS students, who has mild symptoms of the infection, has been admitted to Seven Hills Hospital for treatment, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official.

The other students are asymptomatic and have been quarantined, he said.

Nearly 89 crore Covid vaccine doses have so far been administered in the country, the Union Health ministry said on Thursday. More than 58 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Thursday till 7 pm.

The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night, the ministry said.

According to the ministry's data, a total of 64,98,28,333 first doses and 23,97,86,150 second doses of the vaccine have been administered across the country. The government said that 64.1 per cent doses of COVID-19 vaccine has been administered in vaccination centres in rural areas and 35 per cent in urban areas.

A total of 67.4 lakh doses (approximately 0.88 pc) have been administered at vaccination centres not tagged as rural/urban, it said. It said that 59.66 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases last week were reported from Kerala and the state has over one lakh active cases.

On the Zydus Cadila's COVID-19 vaccine, the government said ZyCoV-D is a three-dose needle-free vaccine and it will be priced differently than jabs being used currently.

Talks are being held with the manufacturer on its pricing, it said.

India recorded a single-day rise of 23,529 Covid cases on Thursday, taking its infection tally to 3,37,39,980 while the count of active cases dipped to 2,77,020, the lowest in 195 days, according to ministry data.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 3,30,14,898 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent. The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 4,48,062 with 311 new fatalities being recorded, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The number of active cases has declined to 2,77,020 comprising 0.82 per cent of the total infections the lowest since March 2020, the ministry said.

The government has exempted customs duty on COVID-19 vaccines for three months till December 31, which will boost domestic availability and make them cheaper.

In a notification dated September 29, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said the exemption would come into force on October 1, 2021, and remain in force up to December 31, 2021.

Earlier in April, the government had exempted basic customs duty on the import of COVID vaccines for three months. Following the conclusion of the three-month period, COVID-19 vaccines import attracted 10 per cent duty.