Beneficiaries wait in a queue to receive the COVID-19 vaccine dose at Civil hospital in Lucknow.
As India ramps up its vaccination drive against coronavirus, Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow has administered over 10 lakh (1 million) doses of vaccine.
Speaking during a high-level meeting concerning Covid management and vaccination, Lucknow District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash directed concerned officials that tracing, testing and distribution of medical kits should continue on a warscale in both urban and rural areas. He also asked to further ramp up the vaccination programme in the district.
Meanwhile, the Centre on Friday said that more than 24 crore vaccine doses have been provided to the states and Union Territories so far.
It also said that 1.93 crore Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered.
The Centre has so far provided, both through the free of cost category and through direct state procurement category, more than 24 crore vaccine doses (24,21,29,250) to the states and Union Territories.
Of this, the total consumption, including wastages is 22,27,33,963 doses (as per data available at 8 am on Friday).
More than 1.93 crore covid vaccine doses (1,93,95,287) are still available with the states and UTs to be administered.
As part of its nationwide vaccination drive, the government has been supporting both the states and Union Territories by providing them Covid vaccines free of cost.
Besides, it has also been facilitating direct procurement of vaccines by the states and UTs.
Uttar Pradesh Covid positivity rate all-time low
Uttar Pradesh has clocked an all-time low case positivity rate of 0.3 per cent on Thursday. The positivity rate has been hovering around 0.5 per cent for the past few days.
"UP has been on the forefront of Covid testing. Case positivity rate for past 24 hours was in fact 0.3 per cent which is an all-time low," said a government spokesman.
ALSO READ | 'Will boost vaccine production': Poonawalla thanks Jaishankar, Biden for policy change
Adding that early detection remains the key to check virus spread, he said, "The state's positivity has remained around 0.5 per cent over last 3 days and this is an encouraging sign."
Case positivity rate refers to number of persons testing Covid positive among those who gave samples and is an indicator of the pandemic situation at any place.
Average number of tests in UP these days is over 3 lakhs with 3,40,411 tests conducted in past 24 hours.
Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) health and family welfare Amit Mohan Prasad said, "As on date, UP's cumulative case positivity is around 3.4 per cent, which is way less than the figure of 18 per cent recorded at peak."
Prasad stated that UP's recovery rate had risen to 97.3 per cent, while the state was left with 25,546 active cases.
Meanwhile, Covid deaths remained a cause of concern with 108 deaths in 24 hours, taking the toll to 20,895.
Officials also said, Covid restrictions in Jhansi have been lifted as active cases in the district fell below 600.
ALSO READ | Serum Institute gets nod to manufacture Russian Sputnik V vaccine in India
