Gujarat reports 23 new COVID-19 cases, no fresh death; over one crore fully vaccinated

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat registered 23 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking its tally to 8,25,236, while no fresh death due to the infection was reported in the state, the health department said.

At the same time, 16 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, pushing the tally of recovered COVID-19 cases in the state to 8,14,972, it said.

The state's COVID-19 death toll stayed unchanged at 10,078 with no new fatality was reported in the last 24 hours, said the department in a release.

Gujarat's COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 98.76 per cent.

The state now has 186 active cases, of which eight patients are critical condition, said the department.

Vadodara reported nine new cases, Ahmedabad four, Surat and Anand two each, and Rajkot, Aravalli, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Dahod, Porbandar one each, the release said.

A total of 3,84,246 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in Gujarat on Wednesday.

With this, the number of vaccine doses administered to eligible beneficiaries in Gujarat so far rose to 4,16,15,853, the department said.

The Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu reported no new COVID-19 cases or recoveries in the last 24 hours, officials said.

The number of total COVID-19 cases and recoveries in the UT stood unchanged at 10,629, and 10,621, respectively, they said.

There are four active cases in the UT, which has reported as many COVID-19 deaths so far, the officials said.

Gujarat's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 8,25,236, new cases 23, death toll 10,078, discharged 8,14,972, active cases 186, people tested so far (figures not released).

More than one crore eligible beneficiaries in Gujarat have taken both jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said on Wednesday.

As per official figures, Gujarat has around 4.8 crore people above the age of 18, of whom more than 3.12 crore have already taken their first dose, while over one crore citizens have received their second dose till Wednesday.

"I congratulate all health workers of Gujarat for administering both doses of the anti-coronavirus vaccines to one crore citizens in the state. I also congratulate citizens who are now fully vaccinated against coronavirus," Patel, who also holds the Health portfolio, said in a statement.

The COVID-19 vaccination drive was launched in Gujarat on January 16, the same day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the drive across the country.

It has taken seven months for the administration to cover one crore people with both doses of the vaccine.

Since the last one month, the vaccination drive has picked up pace, with an average 4 to 5 lakh doses being administered every day.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases emerging every day has also dropped significantly in the last couple of months.

On Tuesday, the state had recorded just 17 new cases and no fresh casualties.