India crosses 2 billion vaccine doses of Coronavirus; WHO praises India -

New Delhi: The western countries had claimed that considering the intensity of the Coronavirus pandemic and the present healthcare facilities in India, it would take many years for India to vaccinate its population. However, India has created history by administering more than 2 billion doses of the Coronavirus vaccine in just 18 months. Prime Minister Modi expressed confidence that India’s success will strengthen the global fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, Prime Minister Modi congratulated everyone associated with the Coronavirus vaccination campaign. Even the World Health Organisation has praised India for this achievement.

India crossed the record level of 2 billion Coronavirus vaccine doses on Sunday. India started the vaccination program on 18th January 2021. It took nine months to administer the first billion doses. The second billion doses also took almost the same amount of time. India had crossed the mark of 1 billion on 21st October 2021.

In India, the Coronavirus pandemic started in early 2020. The healthcare systems of developed countries also crumbled under the pressure of the Coronavirus pandemic. It was claimed that India would struggle to contain the pandemic given the vast population and inadequate healthcare infrastructure. There were speculations of a high death rate in India. However, India fought and managed the situation with excellent strength to astonish the world.

Initially, sanitisers, masks, PPE kits and ventilators were needed to be imported into India. However, within a few months, India turned around and started exporting these items. India shocked the world with the fastest development of the Coronavirus vaccine. Despite this, the western media has a pessimistic opinion about India needing many years to vaccinate its 1.3 billion population. However, the deployment pace of the vaccination in India managed to beat all the developed countries.

India launched the Covin application, which was effectively used to plan and implement the vaccination program fastest and most efficiently. In the first stage, healthcare workers and frontline workers were vaccinated. Later in the second phase, which started in March 2021, vaccines were made available for citizens over 60 years of age. The third phase covered citizens above 45 years, and the fourth phase, which started in mid-2021, was for everyone above 18. Between 7 to 10 million doses were administered daily during the campaign. With adequate planning and coordination, India proved its capability to manage such a massive task within a stipulated timeline.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has praised India for its achievement. However, WHO has also warned that the war against Coronavirus is far from over.