COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: 32.5 lakh doses administered in India on June 17

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. (Representative image)

More than 32.59 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in India on June 17, the Union Health Ministry's latest provisional report suggested. With that, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country reached 26.89 crore.

On the 153rd day of the vaccination drive on June 17, 28.54 lakh beneficiaries received their first shot and 4.04 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.

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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.

Here are key developments related to the COVID-19 vaccination process:

A mega vaccination drive against COVID-19 will be launched from the International Yoga Day on June 21 in Madhya Pradesh under which people in the 18-44 age group will be given priority, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on June 17. He said vaccines provide security to people from coronavirus and urged them to get themselves inoculated and also encourage others to do so.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said on the day that he has requested PM Modi to provide additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine to the state. On his first visit to the national capital after assuming office as Chief Minister in May, Stalin, who called on PM Modi in Delhi, said he has urged operationalising the union government's vaccine manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu.

The Maharashtra government has told the Bombay High Court that it will start publishing and notifying people about weekly vaccination schedules in Mumbai and some other districts in the state whenever it has adequate stock of anti-COVID-19 vaccines.

A special vaccination drive will be launched to inoculate 20,000 private security guards against COVID-19 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh minister Tulsiram Silawat said on the day.

India said on the day the ongoing global debate on 'vaccine passports' for international travel needs to be linked to the issue of vaccine equity as many developing countries have not been able to vaccinate a large percentage of their population against COVID-19. The assertion by India comes after Japanese government announced that it will make 'vaccine passports' available from next month for Japanese travellers.

Tourism activities in Goa will resume only after the population in the age group of 18-44 is administered at least the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on the day. Speaking to reporters in Panaji, Sawant said the state government has set a deadline of July 31 to cover the entire population in 18-44 age category with the first dose of vaccine.

Here's the vaccination count for some states:

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