NEW DELHI: Only a fifth of the eligible people in India have taken the precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine so far, with the lowest coverage in Meghalaya followed by states like Jharkhand, Nagaland, Punjab and Haryana, officials said on Tuesday.
Around 12 per cent of the eligible 77 crore population in the age group of 18-59 years have taken the precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine so far, they said.
Besides, 35 per cent of the 16.80 crore population aged 60 years and above, healthcare and frontline workers have been administered the precaution dose.
A total of 15.66 crore precaution doses have been given till now with 10.39 crore doses being administered since July 15 after the 'COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsava' was launched, official sources said.
The precaution dose coverage among the 64,89,99,721 eligible population between 18-59 years was 8 per cent till July 14.
Only eight per cent of eligible people aged above 18 years have taken the precaution dose in Meghalaya so far - the lowest in the country followed by Jharkhand and Nagaland at nine per cent each and Punjab and Haryana at 10 per cent each.
In fact, the coverage is only about a third in the major states.
Among UTs, Andaman and Nicobar islands lead the chart with 78 per cent followed by 59 per cent in Ladakh.
The coverage is 21 per cent in Delhi.
While UP has coverage of 22 per cent, a mere 13 per cent of the eligible population have taken the precaution dose in Maharashtra, official sources said.
The coverage is 17 per cent in Madhya Pradesh, 24 per cent in West Bengal, 13 per cent in Kerala, 14 per cent each in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, 18 per cent in Karnataka, 32 per cent in Gujarat , 23 per cent in Bihar and 16 per cent in Assam, they said.
Under the campaign which was launched on July 15, 9,28,598 special vaccination camps have been organised so far by all the states and UTs.
This includes camps at railway stations (4,259), bus stations (9,183), airports (370), schools and colleges (1,16,675), on the way to religious places (3,522) and camps at other places (7,94,589), health ministry sources said.
Since July 15, 10,16,78,376 doses of Covishield, 1,68,14,771 doses of Covaxin and 85,03,008 doses of Corbevax have been given .
On July 15, the government launched a special 75-day special drive to administer precaution doses to all aged 18 years and above at government vaccination centres free of cost.
The drive 'COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsava', aimed at boosting the uptake of COVID-19 vaccine precaution doses among the eligible population, is being held as part of the government's Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India's Independence.
Officials said 98 per cent of India's adult population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 92 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
According to health ministry data, the total vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 212.37 crore on Tuesday with more than 18 lakh (18,08,856) doses being administered till 7 pm.