‘Main milestone’: NITI Aayog’s Dr VK Paul, vaccinated at one single dose after 2/3 of the adult population, quarter at two doses

Dr. VK Paul, member health Niti Aayog said Thursday that approximately 2/3rds of adults had received a single dose of COVID-19 vaccination, while nearly 1/4 of adults received both doses. He added that it is a significant milestone.

Meanwhile, Rajesh Bhushan, Union Secretary of Health, reported that six countries/covered UT’s their population by 100 percent in the first dose. He said that they were Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar and Sikkim.

Besides, four States/UTs have completed more than 90% coverage of first dose. These are Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Kerala, Ladakh and Uttarakhand, he said.

“66% of the 18+ population has received at least one dose of COVID vaccines; 23% of the 18+ population received both doses. We have been able to achieve this due to tremendous work by some states,” the Union Health Secretary said.

Speaking about the decline in COVID-19 positivity rate in the country, Bhushan said, “For the 12th consecutive week, weekly positivity rate continues to decline and is less than 3%. Recovery rate 97.8% in the country.”

“In last 24 hours, 31,000 cases odd cases have been reported and most of these cases have been reported from Kerala & Maharashtra. However, absolute numbers have gone down. 62.73% of the total cases in the last week have been reported from Kerala,” he added.