PremiumMore than half of the Covid vaccine doses administered over the last few weeks were inoculated in rural areas, the central government said on Tuesday.
In a media briefing, Dr. VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog said Out of the total 88.09 lakh coronavirus vaccine doses administered yesterday, 63.7% were given in in villages and 36% in urban areas.
As per the health ministry data, 56,09,786 vaccine doses were administered in rural areas, and 31,99,484 doses in the urban areas on Monday.
"We are fully hopeful & confident that it's completely possible for us to cover rural areas," Paul added.
Dr Paul further informed that 46% of women and 53% men were administered vaccines under the new phase of universalization of Covid vaccination commenced on Monday.
As per the union health ministry data, a total of 29.16 crore of vaccine doses have been administered in the country to date, which includes 23.92 crore first dose and 5.24 crore second doses.
During the briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan spoke on Delta Plus variant. According to Bhushan, 16 of the 22 cases of Delta Plus variant have been found in Ratnagiri and Jalgaon (Maharashtra) and some cases in Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.
Apart from India, Delta Plus variant has also been found in other 9 countries--US, UK, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Nepal, China & Russia, so far.
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