India has successfully completed one year of its COVID-19 vaccination drive with the Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya calling it the “most successful in the world”. He said that the ambitious coronavirus vaccination drive started under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“With everyone’s efforts, today, it is the most successful vaccination campaign in the world. I congratulate all the health workers, scientists and countrymen,” he tweeted. “Precaution Dose Drive for healthcare and frontline workers and citizens aged 60 years or above is going on in full swing. Over 40 lakh eligible persons have received the Precaution Dose.”
India commenced its nationwide COVID vaccination drive on January 16, 2021. It initially started by inoculating vaccines to healthcare workers followed by people above 60-years-of-age and those above 45-years with comorbidities. It was later extended to all above 45-years and then those above 18-years of age.
It should be noted that the vaccination drive for those between the age group 15-18 was started on January 3, 2022. For administering the precautionary doses to the healthcare workers, front-line workers and sixty plus individuals that commenced on January 10, 2022 to stem out the spread of omicron variant.
According to health ministry officials, over 92% of the adult population have received at least one dose, while over 68% have been fully vaccinated. India, in its vaccination drive, has achieved several milestones which have no precedent in the world. This includes administering over 100 crore doses in less than nine months, administering 2.51 crore doses in a single day and several times administering one crore doses in a day.
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COVID vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore mark on October 21 in 2021. The cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 150-crore mark on January 7. And with the administration of more than 66 lakh vaccine doses in a day, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 156.76 crore.
