India crosses historic one billion COVID-19 vaccine milestone

Indian has administered 100 crore doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to its citizens. Netizens took to Twitter to celebrate the historic milestone.

Indian has crossed the historic milestone of administering 100 crore (1 billion) doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to its citizens. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya took to Twitter to congratulate the country on the occasion. Mandaviya credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership for the feat.

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore milestone on Thursday. In a tweet, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the country on achieving the feat, and said it was the result of the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to official sources, around 75 per cent of India’s all eligible adult population has been administered at least the first dose and around 31 per cent has received both the doses of the 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 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.