India fastest country to administer 140 mn doses of COVID vaccine: Govt

India had taken just 99 days to reach the milestone, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said

India has become the fastest country to administer 14 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine in just 99 days, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Saturday.

The ministry said that the country has administered more than 24 lakh vaccine doses administered till 8 pm on April 24.

"The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 14,08,02,794 as per the 8 pm provisional report today," they said.

These include 92,89,621 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 59,94,401 HCWs who have taken the second dose, 1,19,42,233 Frontline Workers (FLWs) (1st dose), 62,77,797 FLWs (2nd dose), 4,76,41,992 for over 45 years old to 60 years old (first dose), 23,22,480 for over 45 years old to 60 years old (second dose), 4,96,32,245 for above 60 years (first dose) and 77,02,025 for above 60 years (second dose).

Total 24,22,989 vaccine doses were given till 8 pm today, the ninety-ninth day of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination, the ministry added.

Out of which 15,69,631 beneficiaries were vaccinated for the first dose and 8,53,358 beneficiaries received the second dose of the vaccine as per the provisional report. Meanwhile, the national COVID-19 mortality rate has dropped and currently stands at 1.14 per cent, the union health ministry informed on Saturday.

The death toll stood at 1,66,10,481 with 2,624 fatalities reported in 24 hours out of which Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (773) followed by Delhi with 348 daily deaths.

India's total active caseload has reached 25,52,940 and it now comprises 15.37 per cent of the country's total positive cases. A net incline of 1,24,324 cases was recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.