By PTI
NEW DELHI: The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has gone past 58 crore, the Union health ministry said on Saturday.
More than 43 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Saturday, according to a provisional report compiled at 7 pm.
The ministry said 20,88,547 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years received the first dose and 7,36,870 were administered the second dose of the vaccine on Saturday.
Cumulatively, 21,60,58,123 people in the said age group have received the first dose and 1,92,54,925 have been administered the second dose of the vaccine since the start of the third phase of the vaccination drive across the states and Union territories.
On the 218th day (August 21) of the inoculation drive, a total of 43,92,759 vaccine doses were given — 27,77,409 beneficiaries received the first dose and 16,15,350 got the second dose — according to the provisional report.
The final report for the day would be compiled by late night.
The Maharashtra government on Saturday claimed to have set a new record by inoculating over 10.96 lakh people against COVID-19 in a single day.
“The state achieved this feat with the network of 5,200 vaccination centres where 10,96,493 doses were given. This figure could go up as vaccination was going on at some centres till late evening,” the state public health ministry said in a statement.
Maharashtra Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the state government was insisting on supplying higher number of vials for a long time so that we can “increase the pace of immunisation against COVID-19”.
“Today, we proved our claim of having installed the capacity of inoculating more than 10 lakh people in a day,” he stated.
The Maharashtra government on July 3 vaccinated 8.
11 lakh people while 9,64,460 doses were administered on August 14, said Dr Pradeep Vyas, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Health Department.
Maharashtra on Saturday reported 4,575 new coronavirus cases and 145 deaths, which raised the tally to 64,20,510 and the toll to 1,35,817, a health official said.
