68.26 L healthcare, frontline workers vaccinated

New Delhi, Feb 10: The number of healthcare and frontline workers vaccinated against COVID-19 reached 68.26 lakh on Wednesday, the 26th day of the countrywide inoculation programme, the Union Health Ministry said.
The cumulative number of beneficiaries vaccinated against the coronavirus till Wednesday 6 pm through 1,42,455 sessions is 68,26,898, as per a provisional report, the ministry said. These include 56,65,172 healthcare workers (57.4 per cent) and 11,61,726 frontline workers (13.2 per cent), it said.
The nationwide inoculation drive was launched on January 16 with initial priority to healthcare workers. Frontline workers, like police, civil and defence staff and municipal employees, started receiving COVID-19 vaccine jabs from February 2.
On Wednesday, a total 2,15,133 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 6 pm across 33 states and union territories and of these, 54,834 were healthcare workers, while the other 1,60,299 beneficiaries were frontline workers, the ministry said, adding that a final report would be completed by late in the night.
It said that 7,707 sessions were held on Wednesday till 6 pm.
Thirteen states and union territories (UTs) have vaccinated more than 65 per cent of the registered healthcare workers and these include Bihar, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Rajasthan, the ministry said.
Seven states and UTs have reported less than 40 per cent coverage of vaccinating healthcare workers. These are Punjab, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, and Puducherry, it said. (PTI)