Highest number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in Uttar Pradesh on first day of inoculation

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Of the 1.91 lakh beneficiaries administered COVID-19 vaccine shots on the first day of the countrywide vaccination drive, the highest number of inoculations were carried out in Uttar Pradesh with 21291 people taking the jab.

The first COVID-19 vaccine shots in India were given on Saturday.

Of the 208826 total active COVID-19 cases in the country, Kerala has the highest number at 68633 followed by Maharashtra at 53163, UP at 9162, Karnataka at 8713, West Bengal at 7151, and Tamil Nadu at 6128, according to the Health ministry data.

More than one crore cases and 1.5 lakh fatalities later, India took its first steps out of the pandemic with shots of the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines being administered at medical centres across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vaccination drive while reassuring the country that emergency use authorisation was given to two Made in India vaccines only after scientists were convinced of their safety and effectiveness, and urged people to beware of propaganda and rumours.

According to the Health ministry data, the highest number of vaccines were administered in UP at 21291 followed by Andhra Pradesh at 18412, Maharashtra at 18328, Bihar at 18169, Odisha at 13746, Karnataka at 13594, Gujarat at 10787, Rajasthan at 9279, West Bengal at 9730, Madhya Pradesh at 9219, Kerala at 8062.

Besides, 5592 people in Chhattisgarh, 5,589 in Haryana,  4,319 in Delhi, 3653 in Telangana, 3528 in Assam, 3096 in Jharkhand, 2276 in Uttarakhand, 2,044 in Jammu and Kashmir, 1,517 in Himachal Pradesh and 1319 in Punjab were administered the vaccine on the first day.

Of the first day beneficiaries, 585 people were vaccinated in Manipur, 561 in Nagaland, 509 in Meghalaya, 426 in Goa, 355 in Tripura, 314 in Mizoram, 274 in Puducherry, 265 in Chandigarh, 225 in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 120 in Sikkim, 80 from Dadra And Nagar Haveli, 79 from Ladakh, 43 from Daman and Diu and 21 from Lakshadweep.

The Health Ministry said 3,352 vaccination sessions were held and 1,91,181 beneficiaries vaccinated on the first day.

The 11 states and union territories where both Covishield and Covaxin were administered were Assam (65 sessions), Bihar (301), Delhi (81), Haryana (77), Karnataka (242), Maharashtra (285), Odisha (161), Rajasthan (167) Tamil Nadu (160), Telangana (14) and Uttar Pradesh (317).

The sessions in states where Covishield was administered include 2 sessions in Andaman and Nicobar, 332 in Andhra Pradesh, 9 in Arunachal Pradesh, 4 in Chandigarh, 97 in Chhattisgarh, 1 each Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, 7 in Goa, he said.

Covishield was administered in 161 session in Gujarat, 28 sessions in Himachal Pradesh, 41 in J-K, 48 in Jharkhand and 133 from Kerala, 2 in Ladakh, 1 in Lakshadweep, 150 in Madhya Pradesh, 10 each in Manipur and Meghalaya, 5 in Mizoram, 9 in Nagaland, 8 in Puducherry, 59 in Punjab, 2 in Sikkim, 18 in Tripura, 34 in Uttarakhand and 183 in West Bengal.