1 mn Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in just 6 days: Health ministry

India took only 6 days to administer one million COVID-19 vaccine doses, a countwhich is higher than that of countries like the US and the UK, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday asthe number ofbeneficiaries who havereceived the anti-coronavirus shots inched close to 16 lakh.

The UK took 18 days whereas the US took 10 days to reach the one million mark, the ministry said.

As onJanuary 24, till 8 am, nearly 16 lakh (15,82,201) beneficiaries have received COVID-19 vaccination.In a span of 24 hours, close to 2 lakh (1,91,609) people were vaccinated across 3,512 sessions. A total of 27,920 sessions have been conducted so far, the ministry said.

India took only 6 days to roll out one million vaccine doses. This count is higher than countries like the US and the UK. The UK took 18 days whereas USA took 10 days to reach the one million mark, the ministry highlighted.

In a testament to the successful test-track-treat-technology strategy, India continues on its steady trajectory of reporting a sustained downfall in the daily new cases and consequential decline in the active cases, the ministry underlined.

India's active cases today stand at 1,84,408 which comprises of1.73 per cent of the total cases.

With 15,948 recovered cases in a span of 24 hours, a net decline of 1,254 cases has been recorded in the total active caseload during the same period.

Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal account for 75 per cent of the total active cases in the country.

The total recovered cases have surged to10,316,786, the ministry said adding84.30 per centof the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 states and UTs.

Kerala has reported the maximum number of single day recoveries with 5,283 recoveries. Maharashtra follows with 3,694 new recoveries.

The ministry said that80.67 per cent of the14,849 new COVID-19 cases recorded in a span of 24 hoursare concentrated in six states and UTs.

Kerala reported the maximum daily new cases numbering 6,960 in a day. Maharashtra has recorded 2,697 new cases while Karnataka registered 902 new cases yesterday.

Seven states and UTs account for 79.35 per centof the 155 case fatalities reported in a span of 24 hours.

Maharashtra reported 56 deaths. Kerala and Delhi follow with 23 and 10 new deaths, respectively.