Vaccine Century!
On 17th September 2021, India had achieved an unbelievable milestone in the war against the Coronavirus. We had administered 2.5 crore or 25 million vaccines in one single day. Then, Dr. Aniruddha D. Joshi (Sadguru Aniruddha) had lauded this achievement, calling it ‘commendable, praiseworthy & one that does us proud’.
Today, we as a nation achieved another significant milestone – India completed giving 100 crore vaccines overall. All this has been possible due to sincere and unrelenting efforts by our frontline staff, healthcare workers, Government machinery and all concerned.
Initial challenges
No country, including India, was prepared at the start of 2020 when the pandemic spread worldwide from Wuhan in China. There were not enough testing centres, there was a stark shortage of PPE kits and masks, the line of treatment was unproven, and there was no vaccine.
India scaled-up response
However, the moment Indian authorities comprehended the severity of the disease and its spread, India took up the fight with its ‘never say die’ attitude.
Starting from the one and only laboratory that performed Covid tests, today, India has around 3,000 coronavirus test centres located across the country.
In March 2020, India produced no PPE kits necessary for medical and frontline workers; India then imported them. However, that picture has turned around, and today India is the second-highest producer of PPE kits making over 2 lakh kits daily.
Vaccine Giant
At the recently held UN General Assembly, several world leaders thanked India for its help and support in combating the pandemic through “early and meaningful” shipments of COVID-19 vaccines and medicines.
India has exported over 66.3 million vaccines to about 100 nations. Just last week, it has resumed vaccine deliveries globally. New Delhi is also a key member of COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) that is ensuring fair and equitable vaccine access for every country.
100 crore jabs
At home, India has administered 100 crores vaccines. Key highlights of this laudable effort are as follows: 1. India is the only country in the world to administer 1 billion Covid vaccine doses. 2. India’s vaccine drive is not only the world’s largest but also the world’s fastest drive. India has achieved this remarkable feat in just 9 months. 3. India’s vaccine drive is twice faster as compared to the United States, five times quicker vis-a-vis Japan, nine times more than Germany and greater than ten times that of France. 4. India has achieved almost gender parity in vaccine distribution, with 48.1% vaccines given to females and 51.9% to males. 5. Consequently, India’s recovery rate is the highest in the world at 98.15%.
Soon, more India-made vaccines will be added to our vaccine arsenal. Also, the existing two vaccine makers are augmenting their production. With it, India appears placed on the road to recovery.