COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: 27.7 lakh doses administered in India on June 8

India rolled out the third phase of its COVID-19 vaccination drive for those in the 18-44 age group on May 1. (Representative image: Reuters)

More than 27.76 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in India on June 8, the Union Health Ministry's latest provisional report suggested. With that, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country reached 23.9 crore.

On the 144th day of the vaccination drive (June 8), 24.68 lakh beneficiaries received their first shot and 3.07 lakh people were given their second dose.

The government has revised the gap between the two doses for the Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield, being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, to 12-16 weeks. However, the interval for the second dose of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin remains unchanged.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide vaccination drive on January 16, with healthcare workers at the frontline of India's COVID-19 battle getting their first jabs. The country began the second phase of the vaccination drive from March 1 in which everyone above 60 years of age and those over 45 years with comorbidities could start getting the vaccine.

From April 1, vaccination was opened for everyone above the age of 45 with or without comorbidities.

India rolled out the third phase of its COVID-19 vaccination drive for those in the 18-44 age group on May 1. The central government has liberalised the vaccination drive to allow states, private hospitals, and industrial establishments to procure the doses directly from manufacturers.

Registration on CoWIN platform for the third phase began on April 28 and is mandatory for the 18-44 age group.

> A Delhi Cabinet minister and senior AAP MLAs launched the 'Jahaan Vote, Wahin Vaccine' campaign on June 8 under which they spread awareness and encouraged citizens aged above 45 to get vaccinated at local polling booths in their assembly constituencies. Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Imran Hussain launched the AAP government's initiative to spread awareness about Covid Vaccination in Ballimaran assembly constituency.

> The Centre told the Bombay High Court on the day that a door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination programme for senior citizens, specially-abled, bed-ridden and wheelchair-bound people is currently not possible, but it has decided to start "near-to-door" inoculation centres.

> National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah appealed to the people on the day to get vaccinated at the earliest in order to stay safe from COVID-19.

> Bandipora in Jammu and Kashmir has achieved 100 percent vaccination of eligible persons in 45-plus age group in 20 villages while the overall percentage of vaccinated persons in the targeted age group was 85 percent in the district, an official said on the day. Deputy Commissioner, Bandipora, Owais Ahmad said the district administration has been able to administer one lakh doses and vaccinate the 100 percent population of the eligible age group in 20 villages of the district.

> People in the 18-44 age group from the Delhi-NCR region are travelling as far as to Agra in Uttar Pradesh to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

> The Goa government said on the day that it will open up COVID-19 vaccination for persons in the 18 to 44 age group, who need to travel abroad, from June 9 onwards.

> Pfizer says it is expanding testing of its COVID-19 vaccine in children younger than 12. After a first-step study in a small number of young children to test different doses, Pfizer is ready to enroll about 4,500 young volunteers at more than 90 sites in the US, Finland, Poland and Spain.