Mumbai, Jan 20 (PTI) On the third day of the COVID-19 inoculation drive in Maharashtra, 18,166 healthcare workers or 68 per cent of the targeted beneficiaries for the day were administered vaccine doses on Wednesday, an official release said.

On Tuesday, 14,883 healthcare staffers, or 52.68 of the targeted beneficiaries for the day, were administered COVID-19 vaccine doses across 274 centres.

With this,the total of 51,650 healthcare workers have received the first dose of vaccines since the drive began on January 16, barring Sunday and Monday when the exercise remained suspended, it said.

"18,166 healthcare workers (68 per cent of the intended beneficiaries for the day)received the first dose of vaccine at 267 centres across the state till 7 PMtoday. The final percentage can change since the vaccination went on after 7 PM at few centres," it said.

The government said that 312 out of the 18,166 healthcare workers were administered Covaxin, taking the total number of the beneficiaries of the Bharat Biotech-developed vaccine in Maharashtra to 881.

In Mumbai city, 666persons received the first dose of vaccinewhile 1,062 persons were inoculated in suburbs, the release said.

In Thane, 1,674 healthcare workers or 72.78 per cent of the targetted beneficiaries for the day were administered COVID-19 vaccine at 23 centres during the day, an official release said, adding that the total of 4,934 health workers have received the shots so far.

As many as 18,562 beneficiaries, or 65 per cent of the target for the first day, were given the shot across the state on Saturday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said vaccination will be conducted on four days on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at 285 centres in the state.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)