India completed 100 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine 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.”
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.
Also read: India sets record with 2.5 crore COVID-19 jabs in one day
WHO: extraordinary feat
Regional director of WHO South-East Asia Poonam Khetrapal Singh congratulated India, saying the extraordinary feat was not possible in a short span without a strong political leadership, inter-sectoral convergence, dedicated efforts of the entire health and frontline workforce and the people themselves.
“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 stated.
UNICEF hails India
UNICEF India representative Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, in a statement, welcomed the strides India has made in recent months to ramp up vaccination.
She said:
“This is a tremendous achievement, given the logistical complexity of administering 1 billion doses in less than a year, in a country as vast and diverse as India. As Indian families recover from the recent devastating COVID-19 wave, for many, this milestone means hope.
“UNICEF has supported these efforts by procuring and supplying over 4,195 pieces of electrical cold chain equipment, including walk-in coolers, freezers, ice lined refrigerators, and deep freezers. We also supplied more than 420,000 pieces of cold chain boxes and vaccine carriers.
“As part of the Risk Communication and Community Engagement response, UNICEF continues to actively support the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through national communication campaigns to promote behaviours to prevent COVID-19 and speed up India’s vaccine drive.”
UNICEF India was in the process of procuring millions of syringes and other equipment as per the needs of the Government of India, the statement added.
Vaccine coverage
Welcoming India’s decision to resume COVID-19 vaccine exports, Dr. Yasmin remarked that now more than ever, greater solidarity was needed to expand the vaccine coverage across South Asia and the world.
“Low-and middle-income countries need access to COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible. According to the World Health Organisation, high-income countries have administered 35 times more vaccine doses than low-income countries,” she pointed out.
Chairman and managing director of Bharat Biotech Dr. Krishna Ella observed that reaching the one billion mark of vaccination in just nine months was a remarkable achievement for the nation.
