New Delhi:India took only 13 days to complete the vaccination of three million (30 lakh) people, fastest in the world, the health ministry has said. This rate of vaccination puts India ahead of the United States which took 18 days to reach the three million mark. Israel took 33 days and the United Kingdom took 36 days to cover three million vaccination, health ministry data revealed.
States that have vaccinated more than two lakh beneficiaries include Karnataka (2,86,089), Maharashtra (2,20,587), Rajasthan (2,57,833), Uttar Pradesh (2,94,959).
Though India started its vaccination drive much after these countries, the vaccination rate has been higher in the country which is credited to both the seamless management of beneficiaries and the absence of vaccine hesitancy among the beneficiaries. From an average of 2 lakh people getting vaccinated on a day while the vaccination drive started on January 16, the per day number has jumped to five lakh, as the number of sites and sessions has also gone up.
India was also the fastest to reach one million and two million vaccination marks, the health ministry data showed.
The ministry is also gearing up start vaccinating frontline workers from the first week of February. Database of more than 61 lakh frontline workers has already been uploaded on Co-WIN portal, and the work is going on. Health ministry additional secretary Manohar Agnani has written a letter to all states and union territories to initiate vaccination of frontline workers, while inoculation of healthcare workers will also go on simultaneously.