India's vaccination drive completes 1 yr, Centre launches stamp

The countrywide vaccination drive against COVID-19 on Sunday completed one year, during which over 156.76 crore vaccine doses were administered.

According to health ministry officials, over 93 per cent of the adult population have received at least one dose while over 69.8 per cent have been fully vaccinated.

A commemorative postage stamp on indigenously developed vaccine Covaxin was released to mark one year of the inoculation drive.

Earlier in the day, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, in a tweet, said that India crossed the landmark milestone of administering 10 crore vaccine doses on April 1 last year.

As many as 25 crore vaccine doses were administered on June 25, crossed 50 crore COVID-19 vaccine dose on August 6 and 75 crore on September 13, he said.

'As a result of the country's solidarity and Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji's commitment during the Corona crisis that the country not only manufactured a vaccine but also inoculated a large part of the population in a very short time. This one year of vaccination campaign shows India's resolve,' Mandaviya said in another tweet.

The drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. Vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2.

The next phase of the 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.

Vaccination of all people aged over 45 from April 1. The government then decided to expand the ambit of the inoculation drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.

India started administering the precaution dose of Covid vaccine to healthcare and frontline workers, which include polling personnel deployed in the five poll-bound states, and comorbid people aged 60 and above from January 10 in a bid to stymie the coronavirus spread driven by its Omicron variant.

The health ministry has claimed that India's vaccination programme has been one of the most successful and largest inoculation programmes when compared to many developed western nations with a significantly low population base to vaccinate.

In the vaccination drive, the country has achieved several milestones, which have no precedent in the world, including 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, it said.

Covid vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore mark on October 21 last year.

The cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 150-crore mark on January 7.

With the administration of more than 66 lakh vaccine doses in a day, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 156.76 crore, according to provisional reports till 7 am on Sunday.

More than 43.19 lakh precaution doses of the vaccine have been administered.

Also, 3,38,50,912 first doses have been given to beneficiaries in the 15-18 years age group.

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Vaccination added great strength to fight against Covid: Modi

Lauding India's COVID-19 vaccination drive as it completes a year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it has added great strength to the fight against the pandemic and has resulted in saving lives and protecting livelihoods.

When the pandemic first struck, not much was known about the virus. However, our scientists and innovators immersed themselves in developing vaccines, he noted.

India feels proud that our nation has been able to contribute to fighting the pandemic through vaccines, Modi tweeted.

'I salute each and every individual who is associated with the vaccination drive,' he said, adding that the role of our doctors, nurses and healthcare workers is exceptional.

'When we see glimpses of people being vaccinated in remote areas, or our healthcare workers taking the vaccines there, our hearts and minds are filled with pride,' he said.

The prime minister asserted that India's approach to fighting the pandemic will always remain science based.

Health infrastructure is also being augmented to ensure that fellow citizens get proper care, he said, asking people to keep following all COVID-19 related protocols.

The countrywide vaccination drive against COVID-19 on Sunday completed one year, during which over 156.76 crore vaccine doses were administered.