70% adults fully inoculated as India marks 1 year of Covid vaccination drive

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 16

India on Sunday marked the first anniversary of the Covid-19 vaccination drive, fully inoculating 70 per cent of its adult population and administering over 156 crore doses.

HP leads the way

• Himachal first state to inoculate all adults with first dose
• Among 4 states/UTs to have achieved full vax target
• Kinnaur first fully vaccinated district of the country

Omicron a deviant

• Omicron is a ‘deviant’ from the Covid-19 progression. So, two pandemics (one by Delta, other by Omicron) are progressing together, says virologist T Jacob John

Prime Minister Narendra Modi saluted everyone associated with the drive, saying vaccination added great strength to the fight against Covid-19. “The vaccination drive led to saving lives and protecting livelihoods. At the same time, the role of our doctors, nurses and healthcare workers is exceptional. When we see glimpses of people being vaccinated in remote areas, or our healthcare workers taking the vaccines there, our hearts and minds are filled with pride,” said the PM, assuring that India’s approach to fighting the pandemic would always remain science-based.

As India recorded 2,71,202 new Covid cases on Sunday marking an eight-month high and active cases (in need of home or hospital care) touched a 225-day peak of 15,50,377, the PM said the government was augmenting health infrastructure and urged everyone to keep following Covid protocols to overcome the pandemic.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya released a commemorative stamp to mark one year of the vaccination drive. The stamp features a health worker administering the indigenous shot Covaxin to a senior citizen.

Importantly for the region, Himachal Pradesh earned accolades today for leading the way throughout the vaccination journey. As of Sunday, Himachal was among the only four states and UTs (others being Andaman and Nicobar Islands, J&K and Lakshadweep) to have achieved the target of 100% vaccination of all adults. Earlier it was the first state to administer the first dose to 100% adults while Kinnaur became the first fully vaccinated district in the country, achieving the target 50 days in advance.

The Health Ministry today hailed Himachal a leader in the vaccination campaign, mentioning the state in a compilation to mark the milestone. The compilation lauds India for the fastest administration globally of 100 crore doses in 9 months on October 21, 2021, and notes that India is the only country to have developed vaccines across multiple platforms — Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin uses an inactivated virus platform, ZyCov-D is a DNA vaccine, Covishield a viral vector vaccine and Gennova is in the running for being India’s first mRNA vaccine.

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