17.2 crore have got at least one jab, more than US's 16.9 crore: Government

NEW DELHI: India has administered at least one dose of anti-Covid jabs to 17.2 crore people, overtaking the US where 16.9 crore people have received at least the first shot as of June 3, the government said on Friday underlining that all efforts are aimed towards fast ramping up of vaccine supplies and coverage.
“We have overtaken the US in terms of number of people who have received at least a single dose of Covid-19 vaccine. It is reassuring that we are steadily improving and intensifying the vaccine campaign and it will be intensified so much more in the days to come,” NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul said.
At least 43% of the 60-plus population in India has been covered with at least one dose and 37% of the population aged above 45 years covered with the first dose of the vaccines.
While India has overtaken the US in terms of absolute number of people given at least one shot, as a percentage of population, India’s 12.6% pales in comparison to the 50.6% achieved by the US so far. Also, the US has fully vaccinated 13.7 crore people while the number for India is 4.4 crore. The US, however, began its vaccination programme a month before India did and in population numbers, it is a little over 33 crore to India’s 138 crore.
While the break-up of how many received the first shot and how many have been fully vaccinated was not available for China, it has administered 72.3 crore doses, which means at least half that number, or 36 crore, have received one or more shots. Overall, India has administered 22.75 crore doses till Friday 7pm.