35L beneficiaries vaccinated against COVID-19: Ministry

Workers, wearing PPE, sanitise a classroom, ahead of reopening of educational institutions after a gap of over 10 months owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Jammu on Saturday. PIC/PTI

Over 35 lakh beneficiaries have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country till now with 5,70,000 vaccinations conducted in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Of the 35,00,027 beneficiaries, the highest number of people, 4,63,793, were vaccinated in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 3,24,973 in Rajasthan, 3,07,891 in Karnataka and 2,61,320 in Maharashtra.

In a statement, the ministry said in the last 24 hours, 5,71,974 people were vaccinated across 10,809 sessions, while a total of 63,687 sessions have been conducted so far.

137 more fatalities
With 13,083 fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally has gone up to 1,07,33,131, while 1,04,09,160 patients have recuperated so far, pushing the national recovery rate to 96.98 per cent, the health ministry said on Saturday.

The disease has claimed 137 more lives in the country in a span of 24 hours and the death toll now stands at 1,54,147, it added. The COVID-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.44 per cent, it stated.
Odisha issues Feb Unlock

In view of the decline in the number of fresh COVID-19 cases, the Odisha government on Saturday allowed the reopening of Anganwadi centres and gatherings of up to 500 people with strict adherence to the safety guidelines, a notification said.

It asked the School and Mass Education Department to make a decision on the date of reopening of schools for classes IX-XII. The administration also allowed the functioning of cinema halls as per the SOPs issued by the central and state governments.

The relaxations are part of the state government's Unlock guidelines which will remain in force till February-end.

No new cases in Andamans
Andaman and Nicobar Islands did not record a single fresh COVID-19 case in the last four days, a health department official said on Saturday.

The tally in the union territory remained at 4,994, while 62 people have so far died due to the contagion, he said.

"No fresh COVID-19 case was reported for the fourth day in a row on Friday," the official said.

The union territory now has only five active COVID-19 cases, he said. Three persons were recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 4,927.

1,07,33,131
Total number of cases in the country as of Saturday

1,54,147
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India

1,04,09,160
Patients recovered and discharged in India as of Saturday