India crossing the 200-crore milestone in administering vaccination doses against COVID-19 reflects the “changing face of Bharat”, BJP president J P Nadda said on Wednesday, and asserted that the country had to wait for about 20 years to get vaccines for polio and other diseases.
He was addressing a gathering after interacting with a group of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers at a vaccination centre on the premises of the Centre-run Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital (LHMC) here. He also offered flowers to many healthcare workers on duty at the centre.
“India will always be indebted to doctors and healthcare workers who served humanity without concerning about their own lives during Covid. We have crossed the 200-crore milestone with regards to the number of total doses administered in the country since the vaccination began in January last year,” Nadda said.
It is the “same India” that had to wait for nearly 20 years to get a vaccine against polio, smallpox, Japanese Encephalitis and other diseases, he added.
“Those vaccines took several years to come to India. But, with the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, nine months after the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, our scientists gave us, not just one, but two vaccines against COVID-19. This is a reflection of the changing face of India (‘Bharat ki badalati hui tasveer dekhne ko milti hai’). Indians are now walking with a ‘Suraksha Kavach’ (security shield) and a ‘Swasthya Kavach’ (heath shield). And, under his leadership, now 75 days for free administration of the booster dose for people in the 18-59 age group, will further boost that health shield,” Nadda said.
India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative doses administered surpassed the 200-crore mark on July 17, 18 months after it began the drive to combat the deadly pandemic that has claimed over 5.25 lakh lives in the country so far.
In a tweet earlier, Prime Minister Modi had congratulated the countrymen on bringing about this significant feat. He called India’s vaccination drive unparalleled in scale and speed.
Nadda, a former Union health minister, later also tweeted about his visit to the centre where he greeted beneficiaries sitting in the observation room. “Under the leadership of Hon. PM @narendramodi ji India has crossed a historic milestone of 200cr vaccine doses and is now administering Free Booster Dose for adults for 75 days. Today I visited a vaccination center at Lady Hardinge Hospital & interacted with our health workers,” he tweeted.
The party chief asked the BJP Delhi team members to go door-to-door to encourage people to get vaccinated and thus take forward the vision of the prime minister to combat this pandemic.
“I urge party workers to work and ensure that no one is left behind in the vaccination exercise, so that the security ring is not compromised,” he said.
The UNICEF has termed India’s milestone of 200-crore doses a phenomenal accomplishment and a testament to the grit and dedication of India’s health workers, while the WHO, too, has praised the effort.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. Vaccination of frontline workers started on February 2 last year.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions.
Vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years began on April 1 last year. The government then decided to expand the ambit of the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years to be inoculated against Covid from May 1 last year.
LHMC Director Ram Chander on Wednesday said people must come forward and get vaccinated.
Asked about some people coming late for their first dose, and if there was still vaccine hesitancy among a few, he said, “Yes, some people are still apprehensive, but they are slowly realising the benefits of vaccination.” Meanwhile, LHMC officials said, over 1.10 lakh doses have been administered in total under the vaccination exercise being carried out by it.
“Over 60,000 doses being given at our vaccination centre housed in the oncology block in the LHMC campus in central Delhi, and more than 51,000 doses have been administered through camps at airports at other places,” a senior doctor of the hospital said.
Ajay Kumar, 42, a Narela resident, who received his booster dose in the presence of Nadda, appealed to others to come out and “get their extra cover of safety and security” against the pandemic, adding, during and right after the second wave, a large number of people had got vaccinated, as it was very deadly.
Nursing Officer Marie Jennifer Cross, who administered the dose to him, also appealed to people to get their vaccine doses whenever due and not have any hesitancy.
