India administered more jabs than all G7 nations in Aug: Govt
NEW DELHI: The Union government informed on Sunday that in August, India administered more doses of vaccines against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) than all G7 countries put together. Sharing the data, the Centre said that more than 180 million vaccine doses were administered in the country last month, while G7 states administered only 101 million doses.
“Yet another achievement! With more than 180 million vaccine doses administered in the month of August, India leaves a mark on the global map of leading its way in vaccinating its population on priority,” the official MyGovIndia Twitter handle said, sharing the data.
The figures show that Canada, at 3 million, administered the least number of Covid-19 vaccine doses within the G7, with the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany next on the list with 5 million, 8 million and 9 million doses respectively. Within the bloc, only Japan, the United States and France delivered more than 10 million shots, with the Asian nation topping the chart at 40 million. The US and France, meanwhile, administered 23 million and 13 million doses, respectively.
In India, where the nationwide inoculation drive began on January 16, more than 684 million doses have been administered thus far, including nearly 7.2 million in the last 24 hours, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHW). Nearly 160 million beneficiaries have been fully vaccinated (received both doses), while 523 million people have taken their first shot.
Thus far, six vaccines have received Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). Among these, Covaxin and ZyCoV-D are both indigenously developed jabs, the other four (Covishield, Sputnik V, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson) are foreign made. Covaxin and Covishield were the first two vaccines authorised by the DCGI, while ZyCoV-D is the latest. Currently, only those aged 18 and above are eligible to get vaccinated against Covid-19.