July 17, 2022
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‘Unparalleled scale & speed’: PM Modi hails India for crossing 200 crore Covid vaccine doses

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India’s cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage crossed the 200 crores or 2 billion mark on Sunday, 18 months after vaccinations began in the country.

The first shot in the country was administered on January 16, 2021.

Congratulating the nation for achieving the milestone and creating history, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter and said, “India creates history again! Congrats to all Indians on crossing the special figure of 200 crore vaccine doses. Proud of those who contributed to making India’s vaccination drive unparalleled in scale and speed. This has strengthened the global fight against COVID-19.”

VK Paul, member of NITI Aayog and head of India’s Covid task force, said “Achieving 2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses is a magnificent milestone for India. We’ve achieved this using our own vaccines. All the credit for this achievement goes to the people and the leadership of the country.”

The Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, also took to Twitter and said, “India has scripted history under PM @NarendraModi Ji’s visionary leadership. This extraordinary achievement will be etched in the history! #200CroreVaccinations.”

COVID-19 VACCINATION

The first 500 million doses were administered in 202 days after the world’s second most populous country started its vaccination drive on January 16, 2021. The second and third 500-million doses were achieved in quick succession of 76 and 79 days, respectively, as India battled through second and third waves led by the Delta and Omicron variants. The journey from 1.5 billion to 2 billion doses was rather a slow one as India inched towards the flag post in 191 days.

According to health ministry data, 98 per cent of the adult population has received at least one dose while 90 per cent have been fully vaccinated. As per data provided by Our World in Data, 62.1 per cent of the world’s population is fully vaccinated against the virus.

This week, the Union Health Ministry launched a 75-day vaccination drive to administer precautionary doses of the Covid vaccine for free for people aged 18 and above. A total of 5,63,67,888 precautionary doses have been administered so far.

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