India records highest weekly vaccination with over 3.3 crore jabs administered in last 5 days

While questions have been raised over the 'orchestrated push' to the vaccination number of June 21, the Union government reiterated that the vaccination figure will be sustained and will actually go up as Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute are ramping up production.

On June 21, India vaccinated over 80 lakh people beginning a new phase of the vaccination drive where the Centre provides free vaccines to states and Union territories depending on the population, the Covid-19 situation among other factors. The number of people India vaccinated on a single day (on June 21) was equivalent to Switzerland's population and was more than any of the Nordic countries. Now, as the week comes to an end, India breached all its past records of highest weekly vaccination as it administered over 3.3 crore doses between June 21 and June 26, Union health ministry data said. The earlier record was of 2.47 crore doses, administered in a week between April 3 and April 9.

India vaccinated over 80 lakh people on June 21. The number dropped in the following days but India made a weekly record of administering over 3.3 crore doses. (PTI)

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Maharashtra on Friday became the first state to administer over 3 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses. Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal are also between two crore and three crore doses.

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What pushed the vaccination drive?

On the occasion of International Yoga Day, which marked the beginning of this new phase of vaccination drive in India, several states organised mega vaccination camps, which pushed the figure on June 21 to over 80 lakh. Many politicians and experts have questioned the deliberate push and argued that the pace is not likely to be sustained in the days to come. From 80 lakh, the daily vaccination figure dropped to around 60 lakh, but still made the record of the highest weekly vaccination.

The government has said that the number of vaccination will actually go up as both Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India are ramping up their vaccine production aiming at a much larger production in July, August. Private hospitals too will start purchasing vaccines from the vaccine makers from its 25 per cent quota.

December deadline: Challenges

The government earlier said it will vaccinate the entire population by December 2021. According to experts, vaccine hesitance in rural areas and any shortage in the supply may throw a challenge in the way of this deadline.