India today crossed the historic figure of 100 crore vaccine doses of the coronavirus vaccine. After the vaccination campaign started in January, it took 278 days for India to reach this point.
With this, India has become only the second country in the world to do so and so far only China has been able to do so.
Let us tell you in detail about the important milestones of this historic vaccination campaign of India.
The vaccination campaign started with health workers on 16 January
India’s corona vaccination campaign started on 16 January and in the first phase, health workers were vaccinated. On February 2, it was opened to frontline workers like paramilitary forces, police and sanitation workers.
Initially, the pace of vaccination was very slow and till February 28, only 1.4 crore doses were administered across the country.
The country achieved the milestone of administering one crore doses of the Covid vaccine on 19 February.
The second phase of vaccination started in March
From March 1, the vaccination campaign was opened to the elderly above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age suffering from serious diseases. In this phase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi first applied the vaccine and gave a message to the people to get the vaccine.
On 1 April, the scope of this phase was expanded and the vaccination campaign was opened to all people above 45 years of age.
Vaccination campaign open to all adults on May 1
The vaccination campaign was opened to all adults over the age of 18 on May 1 amid a surge in coronavirus cases. Although the vaccination of adults did not start from this day in all the states and gradually opened it.
A severe shortage of doses in the middle of the second wave
The second and third phases of vaccination started in the country at a time when the third wave of the corona was wreaking havoc. The huge demand for the vaccine and the lack of production led to a shortage of doses in the country, due to which the government stopped exporting the vaccine to other countries under the ‘Vaccine Friendship’ initiative.
In addition, on May 13, the interval between two doses of Covishield was increased to 12-16 weeks.
This is how the country decided the journey of 10 crores to 50 crore doses
In the midst of these problems, on 10 April, India achieved the milestone of 100 million doses, while on 25 May this figure increased to 200 million i.e. 100 million doses were used in the country in 45 days.
Due to this, the next 10 crore doses were taken in just 29 days and on 23 June, the country achieved the milestone of 30 crore doses.
The next 200 million doses were administered in 44 days and the milestone of 50 crore doses was achieved on 7 August.
Next 50 crore doses were administered in just 75 days
By August, India’s vaccination campaign was in full swing and the next 500 million doses were administered in the country in just 75 days.
September has been the best month for India’s vaccination campaign and a total of 23 crore doses were administered this month.
In September itself, on the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 17th, more than 2.5 crore doses were also administered, which is a record in the country and the world.
Many challenges are still in front of the vaccination campaign
Applying one billion doses of coronavirus is a big achievement for India, although it does not mean that its challenges are over.
The difference between people who have got the first dose in the country and those who are fully vaccinated is the biggest in the world. Lakhs of people are not coming forward to get the second dose and in Telangana alone, 25 lakh people have not been given the second dose.