New Delhi:
Administering at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine to the eligible population in states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab where assembly elections are scheduled to be held next year is on the priority list of the government, according to official sources.
Also, the target of a landmark 100 crore Covid vaccination doses is likely to be completed by the second week of October, Union health ministry sources said on Friday.
"Inoculating eligible people in states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab where assembly elections are to be held next year with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine is on the priority list of the government," a source said.
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 78 crore on Friday. The government said 20 per cent of India's adult population have received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 62 per cent have got at least one dose.
India saw a single-day rise of 34,403 new COVID-19 infections while the active cases have further declined to 3,39,056, according to Union health ministry data updated on Friday.
The active cases now comprise 1.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 97.65 per cent, it said.
The ministry said that a reduction of 8,164 cases has been recorded in active cases in a span of 24 hours.Of all the vaccines used, around 87.8 per cent are Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute, around 12.11 per cent are Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and less than one per cent Sputnik V.
At least 50 per cent of the beneficiaries have been administered the first dose in Uttar Pradesh. The target is to cover the 100 per cent eligible population with at least one shot before the polls, the sources said.
Commenting about the delay of Pfizer and Moderna's Covid vaccines in India, the sources said change in the demands of the manufacturers from time to time is leading to delay in making these vaccines available in the country and as to why they have not been given indemnity.
Also, 15,27,420 tests were conducted on Thursday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 54,92,29,149, it said
The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 2.25 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 18 days, according to the data.
India recorded two crore cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.