India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore mark on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the landmark reached in little over nine months time since the countrywide vaccination drive was launched on January 16 as a triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore.
Modi also visited the vaccination centre at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here after the achievement and interacted with hospital staff and some of the beneficiaries. He was accompanied by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus congratulated Modi, scientists, health workers and citizens of India for equitable vaccine distribution.
“Congratulations, Prime Minister @narendramodi, the scientists, #healthworkers and people of #India, on your efforts to protect the vulnerable populations from #COVID19 and achieve #VaccinEquity targets,” he said in a tweet.
A series of events were held to mark the milestone including launch of a song by singer Kailash Kher and an audio-visual film at the Red Fort, while the largest khadi tricolour in the country, weighing around 1,400 kg, was displayed at the iconic Red Fort on Thursday.
The same tricolour with dimensions 225 feet by 150 feet was unfurled on Gandhi Jayanti in Leh. An announcement was made at railway stations across the country hailing the completion of administering 100 crore doses and congratulating frontline and healthcare workers for their efforts during the crisis.
The Archaeological Survey of India will light up 100 of its heritage monuments in colours of the tricolour to mark the milestone which will be a tribute to health professionals, frontline workers, scientists, vaccine manufacturers and the citizens of the country who bravely fought the pandemic.
Congratulating the country on the vaccination landmark, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO, South-East Asia, said it was not possible without strong political leadership.
“Huge congratulations to India for marking yet another milestone- a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses administered. This extraordinary feat in a short span was not possible without strong leadership, inter-sectoral convergence, dedicated efforts of the entire health and frontline workforce and the people themselves,” she said.
India’s progress must be viewed in the context of the country’s commendable commitment and efforts to ensure that these life-saving vaccines are accessible globally, she said.
According to official sources, over 75 per cent of India’s all eligible adult population has been administered at least the first dose and over 31 per cent has received both the doses of the vaccine.
So far, all adult people in nine states and union territories — Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Dadra and Nagar Haveli — have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The top five states which have administered the highest number of doses are Uttar Pradesh followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
While the number of daily doses administered has been above one crore on six occasions, the daily counting has slowed down over the last few days which experts attributed to the majority of beneficiaries awaiting their second dose. They, however, stressed that the rest of the 25 per cent of population should come forward to take the first dose of vaccine.
India took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30-crore mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The country took 24 days to reach the 40-crore mark from 30-crore doses and then 20 more days to surpass the 50-crore vaccination mark on August 6.It then took 76 days to go past the 100-crore mark.
The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing all above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.
