Lucknow, Jan 21 (IANS): Uttar Pradesh has crossed the 24-crore vaccination-mark with 24.27 crore doses having been administered till Thursday (January 20).

The health officials said more than four crore doses have been administered in the 20 days of this year. This means that an average of 20 lakh doses were administered every day.

On the national scale, the nearest contender to Uttar Pradesh is Maharashtra where 14.52 crore doses have been administered, followed by West Bengal (11.66 crore), Bihar (10.87 crore) and Madhya Pradesh (10.83 crore).

Among all districts, Lucknow tops with 68.17 lakh doses while Prayagraj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Kanpur Nagar, Agra, Varanasi, and Ghaziabad have also administered over 50 lakh doses.

Health officials said that 14.92 crore people in the state have taken the first dose of the vaccine. This includes over 70 lakh adolescents in addition to the 18 plus population. The total administered doses also include 6.50 lakh precaution doses given to health and frontline workers and elderly persons with comorbid conditions.

The number of fully vaccinated persons is 9.28 crore.

Considering the adult population of 14.74 crore in mind, health officials said that 96 per cent of eligible persons have taken the first dose while 64.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Terming the achievement as a symbol of 'solidarity and strength' of the most populous state against the pandemic, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has thanked the health workers, frontline workers, people associated with the administration and every citizen who took the vaccine voluntarily.

It is noteworthy that over one crore doses were administered in the state in just four days.

Expressing satisfaction over the successful implementation of rapid vaccination drive in Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister has also set a target of ensuring 100 per cent first dose coverage of the adult population in the state by the end of January.