India completed 100 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday, in about 9 months since the drive began.
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi expressed his gratitude to doctors, nurses and all those who worked on crossing the milestone. He tweeted, “India scripts history. We are witnessing the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians. Congrats India on crossing 100 crore vaccinations. Gratitude to our doctors, nurses and all those who worked to achieve this feat.”
India reaches 100 crore vaccination mark
Mr. Modi called the achievement “the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians”. “The vaccine has brought pride and protection in the lives of our citizens,” he noted.
The Prime Minister visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here and interacted with healthcare workers and people receiving the vaccine.
To mark the occasion, the Union Health Ministry held a series of events and released a two-minute and four-second video with rap and visual representation of the country’s fight against COVID-19.
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 top five States which have administered the highest number of doses are Uttar Pradesh followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with health care workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. The country launched vaccination for all people aged over 45 years from April 1.
The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing all above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.
(With PTI inputs)
