COVID-19 vaccination: WHO chief congratulates PM Modi, scientists, health workers

INTERNATIONAL DESK: As India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive achieved another milestone with a cumulative administration of over 100 crore vaccine doses on Thursday, World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with scientists, health workers and people of India for efforts to protect people from coronavirus.

“Congratulations, Prime Minister @narendramodi, the scientists, #healthworkers and people of #India, on your efforts to protect the vulnerable populations from #COVID19 and achieve #VaccinEquity targets,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet.

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’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 and 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. (ANI)