Agency :
India Thursday scripted history by hitting the milestone of one billion Covid-19 vaccinations in just nine months after it began its ambitious inoculation drive.
India is the second country in the world to achieve the feat in such “a short period of time”. China, however, touched the one billion mark of Covid vaccinations in June.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the milestone as “historic” and described it as “the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians”.
“Congrats India on crossing 100 crore vaccinations. Gratitude to our doctors, nurses and all those who worked to achieve this feat,” he said in the national capital.
According to the Indian Health Ministry, around three-quarters of the country’s adults have had one dose of a Covid vaccine while 30 percent are fully jabbed.
And the government aims to get all the country’s adults inoculated by this year-end.
India took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to hit the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30-crore mark, as per the Ministry data.
The country took 24 days to reach the 40-crore mark and 20 more days to surpass the 50-crore vaccination mark on August 6. It then took 76 days to hit the 100-crore mark.
“Congratulations India! This is the result of the leadership of our visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted.
