Over 20 mn Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in Uttar Pradesh till now

Uttar Pradesh has administered over two crore COVID-19 vaccine doses till now with over 30 lakh jabs given to beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group, the state government said on Sunday.

So far, 1,66,27,059 people have received the first dose of vaccine while 36,27,433 have received both doses, it said.

"Till now, we have administered more than two crore (2,02,34,598) doses of vaccine. In view of the huge population of Uttar Pradesh, we have to speed up the vaccination drive," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said at a high-level COVID review meeting.

Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in the country. Last month, Maharashtra has achieved the milestone of administering two crore vaccine doses.

"We must now work on increasing the target set under Mission June by three times for July," the chief minister said.

Uttar Pradesh had set a target of administering one crore vaccine doses in one month under 'Mission June'.

The UP government also said the state has administered over 30 lakh vaccine doses in the 18-44 age category, the highest in the country. In a day, the state has jabbed around 3.88 lakh people.

CM Adityanath said the speed of vaccination must be increased further to prevent a third wave of COVID-19 infections and start targeting to administer at least 10 lakh doses a day from July.

The target is to administer at least 10 crore people in the next three months.

So far, India has administered around 22.80 crore vaccine doses, with Uttar Pradesh accounting for around 8.9 per cent of it.

"A district-wise strategy should be prepared to meet the target of administering 10 lakh doses a day in July. There is no shortage of vaccines. With the help of the Centre, many new vaccines will be available soon," Adityanath said.

"About one lakh additional vaccinators, including the nursing students, should be trained to achieve the new target."

To encourage women to take the jabs, 'Special Pink Booths' will start operating in all the 75 districts of the state from Monday. Each district has been directed to set up at least two such booths.