On Wednesday, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

The 55-year-old ‘Dabangg’ star, who was snapped at the Lilavati Hospital on Wednesday evening, shared the news on Twitter.

“Took my first dose of vaccine today….” Salman Khan wrote on the microblogging site.

Took my first dose of vaccine today….

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) March 24, 2021

Earlier on Tuesday, Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt too received his first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The actor posted a picture on his Instagram story, where he is seen getting vaccinated. He turned up to take the shot casually, in blue denim and a black t-shirt. “Received my first shot of Covid-19 vaccine today at the BKC Vaccine center. I want to congratulate Dr Dhere and his entire team for doing such a wonderful job! I have so much love and respect for them and their hard work. Jai Hind,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, the government announced that from April 1, all people above 45 years of age will be eligible to get COVID-19 vaccines.

On a related note, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 5 crore marks on March 23, said Union Health Ministry on Tuesday. According to a press release, a total of 5,00,75,162 vaccine doses have been given so far, as per the provisional report till 7 pm today.

The Health Ministry further said that these numbers include 79,03,068 HCWs who have taken the 1st dose and 50,09,252 health care workers who have taken the 2nd dose, 83,33,713 front line workers (first dose), 30,60,060 front line workers (second dose), 2,12,03,700 beneficiaries more than 60 years old and 45,65,369 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities. On the 65th day of nationwide COVID19 vaccination, a total 15,80,568 vaccine doses were given till 7 pm today, it added. Out of which 13,74,697 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 2,05,871 HCWs and front line workers received the second dose of vaccine as per the provisional report.

Meanwhile, India reported 40,715 new COVID-19 cases, 29,785 recoveries, and 199 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday. With this, the total cases mounted to 1,16,86,796 including 3,45,377 active cases and 1,11,81,253 total recoveries. The death toll has gone up to 1,60,166.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), as many as 9,67,459 samples were tested on March 22. The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting vaccinated first.