Behind India’s Vaccination Feat is a Logistical Coup: Record 1.10 Lakh Booths Across Country

India’s new vaccination record of two crore-plus jabs in a single day on September 17 was made possible by an unprecedented number of nearly 1.10 lakh vaccination sites operational across the country.

On earlier high-vaccination days, India had about 75,000 operational vaccination sites and the number on many other days has been only around 50,000 vaccination sites. “The number of operational vaccination centers today is nearly double the average sites which were operational earlier,” a senior government official told News18. Only about 3,400 vaccination sites out of the 1.10 lakh operational today are private centers, implying that it is largely a state government-driven effort on vaccinations.

This involves opening new vaccination centers at all possible places, ensuring medical staff is there along with basic infrastructure required for conducting vaccination and running special buses to go in villages to serve as vaccination camps. The maximum vaccination sites are operational today in Bihar, at nearly 14,000 and the state has put over 50,000 medical staff on the job today with an aim to complete 30 lakh vaccinations in a single day. Bihar leads the chart today has reached 20 lakh jabs so far.

Bihar is followed by Uttar Pradesh which has opened about 13,400 vaccination centers today followed by Madhya Pradesh at 12,500, Karnataka at 12,000 and Gujarat at 9565 centers. UP and MP have an aim of 25 lakh jabs today. These five states are also leading in the vaccination numbers today, following Bihar, with all these states above 15 lakh vaccination level today so far. “All these five states could reach 20-25 lakh vaccination mark today apiece. The total final figure today may be between 2.5 crore and 3 crore, almost double the earlier record of 1.41 crore jabs on August 31” a central government official told News18.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here