New Delhi: In a significant feat in the Coronavirus vaccination drive, India registered the record of administering 95 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses on Sunday.
This is important as the union government is focused towards achieving the 100 crore milestone soon.
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Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya took to Twitter and announced that: “World's largest successful vaccination drive in full swing! India completes administration of 95 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses”.
“Marching rapidly towards administering 100 crore vaccine doses. Get vaccinated quickly and encourage your friends & family to do the same!” he added in the tweet.
As per the health ministry’s statement, 94 crore doses had been administered on Saturday.
“With the administration of 66,85,415 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed the landmark of 94 Cr (94,70,10,175) as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 92,12,314 sessions,” the statement informed.
India’s 100 Crore COVID Vaccinations Target
This achievement comes after Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya had on Saturday exhorted 19 states to escalate their pace of vaccination so that India can achieve the milestone of administering 100 crore vaccine doses in the next few days.
He interacted with Principal Secretaries and Mission Directors (National Health Mission) of states and reviewed their progress of COVID-19 vaccination, the health ministry informed.
The states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal took part in the meeting.
Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya had emphasised that the immediate milestone in India’s COVID-19 vaccination journey is the administration of 100 crore doses.
The Health Minister cited results of experiments showing that the number of 1st dose recipients who did not develop severe COVID-19 was 96 per cent and further pointed out that the number increases to nearly 98 per cent for those who have taken both vaccine doses.
Observing that over 8 crore balance doses are available with states, he enquired about the specific hurdles which the states may be facing in increasing their pace of vaccination.
States like Uttar Pradesh pointed out the comparatively limited supply of Covaxin and its shorter span between the doses as an inhibiting factor.
Besides this, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya warned states that COVID-19 containment can derail if festivals are not celebrated following protocols.
He noted that festivals that are usually synonymous with auspiciousness, joy, and large gatherings, if not done in accordance to COVID protocols, can derail the containment of the pandemic.
“The twin-pronged solution is to follow COVID protocols very strictly and speeding up of vaccination,” he stated, as per the health ministry’s statement.