India administers record 85 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses on day one of free shots

India administered a record 85 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines on Monday, as the Centre started providing free vaccines to all above 18 years as part of the liberalised immunisation drive.

According to the Co-WIN dashboard, 85.15 lakh doses were administered at 67,839 vaccination sites across the country till 11 pm on Monday.

A total of 28.33 crore doses have been administered since the drive began on January 16.

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"Today’s record-breaking vaccine numbers are gladdening. The vaccine remains our strongest weapon to fight Covid-19. Congratulations to those who got vaccinated and kudos to all frontline warriors working hard to ensure so many citizens got the vaccine. Well done India,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Monday’s vaccination numbers are the highest for a single day since the immunisation drive began. The previous highest single-day vaccination was 43 lakh on April 5.

According to revised guidelines, vaccine doses provided free of cost by the Centre will be allocated to states and Union Territories based on criteria such as population, disease burden and the progress of vaccination, and all above the age of 18 will be eligible for free jabs. Any wastage of the vaccine will affect the allocation negatively.

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The Centre will now procure 75% of vaccines being produced by manufacturers in the country, leaving the balance 25% for the private sector.

"The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain,” the Health Ministry said.

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In May, over 7.9 crore vaccines were available for the nationwide drive, the ministry said, adding that these were ramped up to 11.78 crore in June.

The Opposition had targeted the government over the slow pace of vaccination drive and claimed that 80 lakh doses would be required to be administered daily to ensure coverage of the entire population by December this year.