On 21 June, 2021 when the new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination started, India in a landmark achievement administered nearly 81 lakh (80,95,314) doses on the first day of the new phase of COVID-19 vaccination.
During the month of May 2021, more than 7.9 crore vaccines were available for the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination exercise. These were ramped up to 11.78 crore in June 2021 including the free supply of vaccines to states and UTs from the Centre and those directly procured by the states/UTs and those directly procured by the private hospitals.
In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, “Today’s record-breaking vaccination numbers are gladdening. The vaccine remains our strongest weapon to fight COVID-19. Congratulations to those who got vaccinated and kudos to all the front-line warriors working hard to ensure so many citizens got the vaccine. Well done India!”
What are the highlights of India’s 21 June feat of massive vaccination?
• COVID-19 vaccines administered in rural areas came to 63.68 percent of the total vaccinations done on Monday (21 June, 2021), the first day when the revised vaccination guidelines came into force.
• Out of total vaccine doses administered on the day, 56.09 lakh vaccines were given from rural vaccination centres, while the urban areas recorded vaccination of 31.9 lakh people.
• “The rural coverage is intense and in a good proportion. The vaccination numbers from Monday (June 21, 2021) were almost in proportion to the rural-urban population division in the country. It proves that it is possible to take the vaccination drive to the rural and remote areas.” — Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog
• 71 percent of the vaccination centres are in rural areas, and consistently, more than half of the total vaccinations carried out in the last few weeks were in the rural areas.
• No glitches were seen in the CoWIN platform while administering such a huge number of vaccine doses (88.09 lakh) on Monday.
• 92 percent vaccine doses were administered from government centres on 21 June, 2021.
• 46 percent of those who received vaccine yesterday were women, while around 53 percent were men.