PM Modi holds meeting to review progress of Covid vaccination drive

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing a review meeting on Saturday to discuss the progress of the COVID-19 vaccination drive across the country.

As many as 31,50,45,926 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far in what has been billed the 'world's largest vaccination drive', including 61,19,169 in the last 24 hours.

India started the world's largest vaccination drive on January 16 this year in a phased manner with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated first. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started on February 2. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 from April 1. Phase 3 of the vaccination drive was started on May 1 for the beneficiaries belonging to the age group 18-44.

As many as 48,698 new COVID-19 cases, 64,818 recoveries, and 1,183 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Saturday.

The total number of positive cases now stands at 3,01,83,143, including 2,91,93,085 recoveries and 3,94,493 deaths.

There are currently 5,95,565 active cases in the country, 1.97 per cent of the total caseload. Yesterday, there were 6,12,868.

The recovery rate stands at 96.72 per cent, while the death rate is 1.31 per cent.