India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 164.96 crore with more than 48 lakh vaccine doses being administered on Friday, the Union health ministry said. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day, it said.
Cumulatively, 53,86,46,325 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to individuals in the 18-44 age group across states and union territories and 39,93,83,859 second doses have been given in the same age group since the start of Phase-3 of the vaccination drive, according to ministry data. The ministry further said that cumulatively, 93,67,55,756 first doses have been administered and 70,19,10,757 second doses have been given.
In the 15-18 age group, 4,97,209 doses have been administered. So far, 1,09,65,707 'precautionary' doses have been administered to the identified categories of beneficiaries. The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry underlined.
Meanwhile on Friday, with 2,51,209 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of cases increased to over 4.06 crore, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll has climbed to 4,92,327 with 627 fatalities reported during the 24-hour period, the data updated at 8 am showed. The active cases decreased by 96,861 to reach 21,05,611 -- 5.18 per cent of the total infections -- while the country's recovery rate stands at 93.60 per cent, the ministry said.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 15.88 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was 17.47 per cent, according to the health ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,80,24,771, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.21 per cent, the ministry said. After the Friday update, the total number of infections stands at 4,06,22,709, it said.
Meanwhile, the cumulative number of anti-Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far has crossed 164.44 crore. India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.