Announcements In Airplanes, Stations Will Mark Achievement: Health Minister On India's 100 Cr COVID Vaccinations Target

Launching a coffee table book on Covid warriors, the Health Minister said the 100 crore doses target is expected to be achieved by October 18 or 19.

Representative Photo

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said announcements will be made on airplanes, ships, metros and at railway stations to mark the moment when the country achieves the target of administering 100 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses.

Launching a coffee table book on Covid warriors, the Health Minister said the 100 crore doses target is expected to be achieved by October 18 or 19.

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“After 100 crore doses is achieved, we will go in mission mode to ensure that those who have taken their first dose take their second dose too to ensure they are protected against COVID-19,” he told reporters, PTI reported.

Mandaviya, who launched 13 videos on Covid-19 warriors and a coffee table published by the Union Health Ministry to pay tributes to them, said Spicejet will wrap planes with posters of one billion vaccines with the images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the healthcare workers on the day the 100 crore doses target is achieved.

The coffee table book pays tribute to the ambulance driver, who rushed to resume his duties without waiting for his loved ones’ last rites to be completed.

Mandaviya said as the vaccination drive picked up in India, the challenge was not only demographic but topographic too.

“The credit goes to the team of healthcare and frontline workers who took it upon themselves to ensure that everyone was covered. It was not an easy task as deep-rooted hesitancy had to be overcome and rampant myths about vaccination had to be countered,” he added.

The coffee table book also salutes the doctors and nurses in a remote tribal area, who worked tirelessly to overcome the entrenched hesitancy against vaccination.

The book similarly pays tribute to some of these community radio station announcers, who enthused communities to take the Covid vaccine and walked the talk by being the first to do so themselves.

The Health Minister further said Biological E’s vaccine got delayed due to delay in receiving raw materials but the data would be submitted by the end of next month.

Meanwhile, India’s Covid-19 vaccination coverage achieved 97 crore landmark milestone on Thursday.

“The nation is rapidly approaching the 100 crore vaccination mark! 97 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses administered to date. Keep it up India, let us fight corona,” Mandaviya tweeted.