About Us Press Releases
  • Home ›   Press Releases

India achieving the historic milestone of administering 1billion plus anti Covid-19 vaccines dozes. #VaccineCentury

Posted on: October 25, 2021 | Back | Print

Embassy of India
Antananarivo
***

PRESS RELEASE


In a historic achievement, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India surpassed the 1 billion milestone on 21 October 2021. The milestone was achieved in just about nine months since the start of the vaccination drive. 

  In a tweet, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi congratulated the countrymen and expressed gratitude to the country’s scientific community and health professionals for working towards achieving this stupendous feat.

Addressing the nation, the Prime Minister lauded the difficult but remarkable feat of administering 1 billion vaccine doses. He attributed this achievement to the dedication of 1.3billion countrymen and said this success is the success of India and the success of every countryman. He said 1 billion vaccinations are not just a figure, but a reflection of the strength of the country, it is the creation of a new chapter of history. This is a picture of a new India that sets difficult goals and knows how to achieve them. 

The vaccine drive is an example of what India can achieve if the citizens and the government come together with a common goal in the spirit of Jan Bhagidari (people participation).  In a country of the size of India, the focus was on last-mile delivery and seamless logistics to ensure successful vaccination drive. From a plant in Pune or Hyderabad, the vial was sent to a hub in any of the states, from where it was transported to the district hub. From there, it reached a vaccination centre. This entailed thousands of trips taken by flights and trains. During this entire journey, the temperature had to be maintained in a particular range that was centrally monitored. States were given advance notice of the delivery schedule of the vaccines so that they could plan their drives better and vaccines reached them on the pre-decided days. This has been an unprecedented effort in the history of independent India.

All these efforts were complemented by a robust tech platform in CoWIN that ensured the vaccine drive was equitable, scalable, trackable, and transparent. In addition to a real-time dashboard to boost transparency, the QR-coded certificates ensured verifiability.
Leaders from across the world congratulated India on crossing the milestone of 1 billion vaccinations, terming it a huge and extraordinary accomplishment.