New Delhi: Over one crore adolescents in the 15-18 years age group nationwide are now fully vaccinated against the novel Coronavirus infection, Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday.
Over 5.04 crore beneficiaries in this age group have been administered the first dose of vaccine.
"What a historic feat by Young India! Over 1 crore youngsters between 15-18 age group are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19," Mandaviya tweeted.
With the administration of more than 53.61 lakh vaccine doses in a span of 24 hours, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 170.87 crore (1,70,87,06,705), according to provisional reports till 7 am.
As per the Registrar General of India (RGI), the estimated population of beneficiaries in the age group of 15-18 years is 7.4 crore for 2021-22.
Meanwhile, India logged 71,365 new infections taking the country's total tally of Covid cases to 4,24,10,976, while the active cases declined to 8,92,828, according to the ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The death toll climbed to 5,05,279 with 1,217 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 2.11 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate has improved to 96.70 per cent, the ministry said.
A reduction of 1,02,063 cases has been recorded in the active Covid caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.54 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was at 7.57 per cent, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,10,12,869, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.