'India Now Shielded By 100 Cr Vaccine Doses': PM Modi Lauds Healthcare Workers On Reaching 1 Bn Mark

Hailing the vaccination milestone as a triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country has scripted history.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at RML Hospital (Image: ANI)

New Delhi:  India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against Covid-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore mark on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi as India surpassed the 100 crore mark and interacted with the frontline workers.

Hailing the vaccination milestone as a triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country has scripted history.

PM Modi also inaugurated the Infosys Foundation Vishram Sadan at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Jhajjar Campus of AIIMS in New Delhi. Speaking at the inaugural event, the Prime Minister said, "This achievement belongs to every citizen of India. I express my gratitude to all the vaccine manufacturing companies of the country, workers involved in vaccine transportation, health sector professionals engaged in vaccine development."

PM Modi further said that this day of October 21, 2021, has been recorded in history and to counter the biggest pandemic in 100 years, the country now has a strong protective shield of 100 crore vaccine doses.

Shifting focus on AIIMS, Jhajjar PM Modi said that this Vishram Sadan, built in the National Cancer Institute will reduce the worries of patients and their relatives. PM said, " Infosys Foundation has constructed the building of Vishram Sadan, while the cost of land and electricity and water for this has been provided by AIIMS Jhajjar. I express my gratitude to AIIMS Management and Sudha Murthy's team for this service."

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the country on achieving the feat, and said it was the result of the able leadership of Prime Minister Modi, whom he described as a visionary.

Congratulating the country for the vaccination landmark, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO, South-East Asia, said it was not possible without strong political leadership.

"Huge congratulations to India for marking yet another milestone- a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses administered. This extraordinary feat in a short span was not possible without strong leadership, inter-sectoral convergence, dedicated efforts of the entire health and frontline workforce and the people themselves," she said.

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 said.

According to a PTI report, over 75 per cent of India's all eligible adult population has been administered at least the first dose and around 31 per cent has received both doses of the vaccine.

India took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30-crore mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The country took 24 days to reach the 40-crore mark from 30-crore doses and then 20 more days to surpass the 50-crore vaccination mark on August 6.It then took 76 days to go past the 100-crore mark.

The top five states which have administered the highest number of doses are Uttar Pradesh followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

To mark the completion of administering of 100 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses, the largest khadi tricolour in the country, weighing around 1,400 kg, will be displayed at the Red Fort on Thursday.

The same tricolour with dimensions 225 feet by 150 feet was unfurled on October 2 Gandhi Jayanti in Leh, they said.