India crossed a milestone to administer 1.5 billion Covid vaccine doses

Delhi: India completed a milestone of administrating 1.5 billion vaccines under the Covid vaccination campaign, which started about a year ago. Besides, 640 million have completed two doses out of these, while 870 million have at least got one dose. Five days ago, the vaccines were made available for the age group of 15-18 years. Nearly 20 million children have got vaccinated since then. Prime Minister has congratulated the nation for achieving this important milestone of 1.5 billion vaccine doses.

On Friday, India’s vaccination campaign crossed the 1.5 billion vaccination mark. The number of vaccinated people crossed a mark of 1.5 billion by 5.5 million since the start of vaccination till 7 pm on Friday. More than 8.5 million people have been vaccinated in a single day. As many as 9.5 million people were vaccinated on Thursday and nearly 10 million on Wednesday. Vaccination of children between 15 and 18 was started on January 3. Since then, vaccination has gained momentum.

In October 2021, India had completed vaccinating 1 billion people. The vaccination campaign started on January 16 2021, with Covishield and Covaxin vaccines. Completing vaccination for 1.5 billion people within a year is a significant achievement. The vaccination drive started for doctors, healthcare, and frontline workers. The second phase was opened for senior citizens, followed by the third phase for age groups of 45 and above. Since May 2021, it has been opened for 18-44 years old.

Currently, 10.03 million healthcare workers are vaccinated with a single dose and 17.3 million have completed both doses. In the case of frontline workers, 10.83 million have taken a single dose and 10.69 million have taken both doses. In 18-44 years, almost 595 million have taken a single dose and 345 million have completed both doses. Among the age group of 45-59 years, 196 million have completed a single dose and 150 million have completed both doses. For senior citizens above 60 years, the numbers stand at 122 million and 97 million with single and double doses.

From January 10, booster dose will be made available for senior citizens above 60 years with more than one ailment.

Moreover, India’s vaccination drive numbers are significantly huge. The sheer scale of the vaccination campaign is beyond imagination for many big, developed countries. The success of the vaccination drive is a testimony to India’s 1.30 billion citizens. The prime minister congratulated the nation and praised the citizens for their self-confidence and self-reliance.