New Delhi [India] : With an uptick in the world’s largest vaccination drive against COVID-19, India on Thursday crossed inoculation of 100 crore vaccine doses, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The 100-crore milestone was achieved in about 10 months after the inoculation drive was launched on January 16. The aim of the Government of India is to fully vaccinate the country’s entire adult population by December this year. India has administered more vaccine doses than any other country in the world apart from China. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday congratulated the nation after India crossed the 100 crore inoculation mark. “Congratulations India! This is the result of the able leadership of visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Mansukh Mandaviya posted on Twitter. As of October 16, more than 97.65 crore vaccine doses were administered to over 69.47 crore people. More than 28.18 crore people are fully vaccinated by then. This means that 74 per cent, or close to three-fourths, of the adult population in India, have received at least one dose, while 30 per cent have got both doses, reported Health Ministry data. While critics cried over the slow vaccination rate, India become the fastest in the world to administer 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines in 85 days. As per the Health Ministry, it took the United States 85 days to administer 92.09 million doses, while China’s vaccination coverage was 61.42 million. Moreover, the sheer speed, scale, and safety with which the drive has been conducted have made the entire world take notice. If we compare India’s vaccination rate vis-s-vis the world, India alone administered a record 180 million doses in the month of August, more than what all G7 nations put together did during the month. While India managed to administer 180 million doses, Japan jabbed 40 million, the US vaccinated 23 million, France 13 million, Germany nine million, Italy eight million, UK five million, and Canada around three million. Moreover, India has administered most vaccine doses after China. As per Health Ministry’s August data, India has been vaccinating nearly 64 lakh people per day, which is more than the entire population of over 120 countries. India stands at number two globally in terms of total doses administered, second to China, followed by the US, Brazil, and Japan. Population-wise, India has administered 49 doses per 100 people while the same figure is above 100 for every G7 nation — Canada, US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. Similarly, every G7 nation with the exception of Japan has fully vaccinated over half their eligible population while India has covered only over 11 per cent, according to Health Ministry August data. India also has managed to outpace the biggest economy of the world – the US by administering more than twice the number of doses it has done so far despite starting a month after America began its drive. In the last week, an average of 948,921 doses per day was administered in the US whereas India administered an average of about 60 lakh doses per day, reported Health Ministry. Around 83.9 per cent of the eligible population has taken one dose in the US. India too is not lagging behind in this and has done equally good by administering 71 per cent of its adult population with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. It’s only the humongous size of its population that put India at a natural disadvantage when it comes to other nations otherwise New Delhi has made impressive strides in its vaccination drive. India’s vaccination drive began on January 16. The Indian government started the ‘biggest vaccination drive in the world’ by first targeting 30 million front-line workers including health care professionals. The drive was opened for people above 60 years and those over 45 with comorbidities from 1st March 2021. Gradually the vaccination drive has been opened for everyone above the age of 18. The second phase of the nationwide vaccination drive started on April 2, where all people above 45 years became eligible for the vaccine. Also, India is close to achieving the historic milestone of administering 100 crore COVID-19 vaccination doses in record time. As of date, India is using three vaccines against COVID-19 in its immunization drive. These include Covishield (Oxford AstraZeneca’s vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India), Covaxin (manufactured by Bharat Biotech Limited) and Sputnik V (developed by Gamaleya Research Institute, Russia). All are two-shot vaccines. Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has also granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to three other vaccines by Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and Zydus Cadila. The Indian government through its largest vaccination drive aims to target 100 per cent adult coverage by the end of this year. With a third wave predicted for India any time between August and December, vaccination against the COVID-19 pandemic is the only way to protect the people from severe infections and hospitalisations.
