India vaccinates 60 percent of its eligible population
New Delhi, Dec 23 (EFE).- Indian authorities said Thursday that they have already vaccinated more than 60 percent of the eligible population against the coronavirus, in a campaign initially affected by shortage of doses.
“Accomplishing more new feats! Congratulations India. Aided by public participation & dedicated efforts of our health workers, over 60% of the eligible population fully vaccinated now,” Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted.
According to the latest official data, this country of 1.35 billion inhabitants has administered a total of 1.396 billion doses against Covid-19.
Some 564 million out of the 950 million eligible adults have received both doses of the vaccine.
So far, India has not rolled out booster shots after the second dose, unlike several other countries.
However, several opposition leaders and heads of state governments in recent days have urged the federal authorities start booster shots, especially amid fears of the spread of the omicron variant in the country.
“Majority of our population is still not vaccinated. When will GOI (Government of India) begin booster shots?” leader of the opposition Congress Party, Rahul Gandhi, tweeted Wednesday.
On Monday, New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also called on Indian authorities start administering booster doses.
India recorded 7,495 coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases since the onset of the pandemic to 34.7 million, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
Official figures show that 478,759 people have died in the country from Covid-19, with 434 deaths in the last 24 hours.
These numbers are in stark contrast with those recorded in May, when India became the global epicenter of the coronavirus and recorded more than 400,000 infections and 4,000 deaths daily, unleashing a crisis across the country.
However, the spread of the omicron variant, with 236 confirmed infections throughout the country since the first case was detected on Dec.2, has caused concern among the authorities and experts. EFE
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