India hits 100 crore Covid vaccination milestone

India has crossed the milestone of having administered 100 crore doses of Covid vaccines on Thursday. Provisional data suggests that over 100 crore vaccine doses had been administered across the country. India crossed the 100 crore dosage mark at around 9.45 am. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at the vaccination centre at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi to commemorate the occasion.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the country and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for reaching the 100 crore vaccination milestone.

The government is set to celebrate the milestone in a major way. Health Minister Mandaviya is expected to launch a song and audio-visual film to celebrate India's milestone of 100 crore Covid-19 vaccinations at around 12:30 pm. The ceremony is slated to take place at the Red Fort. Besides, the largest khadi tricolour in the country, which weighs around 1400 kg, will be displayed at the monument. The khadi tricolour, the largest handwoven and handspun cotton khadi flag ever manufactured in India was last displayed on Gandhi Jayanti in Leh. 

Meanwhile, SpiceJet is expected to will unveil a special livery at the Delhi airport to mark the vaccination milestone. Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh will be present for the special unveiling. Union Health Minister Mandaviya had earlier said that announcements will be made on railway stations, airports, passenger aircraft, ships and metro trains when India crosses the 100-crore milestone.

India had launched the vaccination drive for frontline and healthcare workers on January 16. The vaccination drive was extended to vulnerable groups, which included people aged above 60 years and those above 45 years with comorbidities, from March 1. A month later, on April 1, the vaccination drive was expanded to include all above 45 years. And then on May 1, all above the age of 18 years was eleigible to get a vaccinate dose.

The Centre had initiated the new phase of universalization of Covid-19 vaccinations from June 21, 2021. The vaccination drive was ramped up by facilitating the availability of more vaccines, coordinating the vaccine availability to states and Union Territories for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.

The Centre has been supporting the states and Union Territories by providing them Covid vaccines for free. As per the new phase inititated on June 21, the Centre was mandated to procure and distribute free of cost 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by the manufacturers within the country to states and Union Territories. As of October 20, over 102 crore vaccine doses have been supplied to the states. Of these, 10.7 crore are still available with state governments to administer.

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