COVID-19 vaccination drive to start from Jan 16, India's tally reaches 1,04,31,639

New Delhi [India], January 9 : The COVID-19 vaccination drive in the country will start from January 16 while India has reported a total of 1,04,31,639 COVID-19 cases so far, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).
The decision was taken at a meeting today in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the status of COVID-19 in the country and the preparedness of states and union territories for vaccination against the disease.
With more recoveries reported than fresh cases, the number of active cases dropped to 2,24,190. The overall recoveries reached 1,00,56,651 while the death toll mounted to 1,50,798, according to the Union Health Ministry.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 18,02,53,315 samples were tested for Covid-19 up to January 8. Of these, 9,16,951 samples were tested yesterday.
On Friday, the Union Health Ministry informed that the share of active coronavirus cases in the total positive cases has further shrunk to 2.16 per cent and the recovery rate has also increased to 96.39 per cent.
It also said that the total number of cases infected with the new strain of the novel coronavirus, first reported in the United Kingdom, now stands at 82.
Meanwhile, the number of persons infected by the new United Kingdom strain of SARS-Cov-2 in India has risen to 90, the Union Health Ministry informed on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, India reported 18,222 fresh coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally to 1,04,31,639.
India's cumulative coronavirus positivity rate has further dropped to 5.79 per cent and there are only 2.15 per cent active cases out of the overall infections, according to MoHFW on Saturday.
The Ministry informed that the national cumulative positivity rate has reduced from 8.93 per cent to 5.79 per cent in a span of five months.
A total of 199 new COVID-19 cases and 1 death were reported in Andhra Pradesh in last 24 hours, the state's health department said.
As many as 519 new COVID-19 cases and 12 deaths were reported on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the national capital to 6,29,801, the health department said. A total of 603 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours.
As many as 36 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Puducherry, while 51 others recovered from the virus on Saturday, the health department said.
According to it, the total number of cases in Puducherry stands at 38,425, with the number of active cases currently is 328.
Four persons tested positive for the new COVID strain in Meerut on Friday taking the total tally in the city to nine.