NEW DELHI: As India's COVID-19 vaccination drive achieved another milestone when the cumulative vaccination coverage crossed the 100 crore mark on Thursday, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar extended his greeting to people and lauded the hard work and dedication of doctors and health workers.
"Congratulations India for reaching the milestone of one billion vaccinations. Applaud the selfless hard work and dedication of doctors and health workers," the Foreign Minister said in a tweet. In a landmark achievement, India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 100 crore doses today.
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) and Front Line Workers (FLW) 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.