India crosses landmark of administering 100 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses

India reaching the milestone of 100 crore COVID-19 vaccinations in about nine months is a "remarkable achievement," credit for which goes to the state governments, district teams, the grassroots workers as also people of the country, Niti Aayog member VK Paul has said.

In a landmark achievement, India’s cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 100 crore doses on Thursday. A total of 100 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far to eligible beneficiaries, as per the CoWIN portal at 9:47 am today. 

India reaching the milestone of 100 crore COVID-19 vaccinations in about nine months is a “remarkable achievement,” credit for which goes to the state governments, district teams, the grassroots workers as also people of the country, Niti Aayog member VK Paul has said. Speaking exclusively to ANI, Dr Paul, who is Member (Health), Niti Aayog, said people coming forward in such large numbers to get protection from the disease is “proud moment for India”. Emphasising consistency in reaching the goal of fully vaccinating the people of the country, he said while 75 per cent of adults have got the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and the effort now has to be to reach out to the remaining population besides giving the second dose.

 India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive was launched on January 16, 2021. Initially, the vaccination was opened for Health Care Workers (HCWs) only. From February 2, front line workers were made eligible for vaccination. These included State and Central Police personnel, Armed Force Personnel, Home Guards, Civil Defence & Disaster Management Volunteers, Municipal workers, Prison Staff, PRI Staff and Revenue workers involved in containment and surveillance, Railway Protection Force and election Staff.
The vaccination drive was expanded from March 1 to include persons above 60 years of age and those above 45 years with associated specified 20 comorbidities. It was further expanded to all people above 45 years of age from April 1. From May 1 all persons above 18 years of age were made eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.