NEW DELHI, Nov 17: Even as India recorded only 10,197 new Covid-19 cases and the number of total active cases came down to 1.28 lakhs on Wednesday, the country has achieved a new milestone with the number of fully vaccinated people surpassing those who have been administered only one dose so far.
According to the official records released on Wednesday, the number of fully vaccinated individuals crossed 38 crores mark while the number of partially vaccinated people were little over 37 crores.
The health minister Mansukh Mandaviya while announcing the country’s new milestone claimed that this feat had been made possible due to the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Jan-Bhagidari’ and “Whole of Government Approach”, people’s faith and confidence in the government, and the ongoing ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign which has seen a tremendous response from various parts of the country.
“In a significant achievement to the nationwide vaccination coverage for the country, for the first time the number of fully vaccinated individuals has surpassed those who have been administered only a single dose of vaccine,” the Minister said in a statement.
The country has in total administered over 1,13.68 crore doses, according to the provisional report at 7 am. This has been achieved through 1,16,73,459 sessions. Out of which, 75,57,24,081 doses were administered as first dose and 38,11,55,604 doses were administered as second dose. The number of fully vaccinated individuals (38,11,55,604) exceeds those who have been administered a single dose (37,45,68,477), the Minister said.
The Union Health Minister congratulated the collective spirit of the country on this achievement. In a tweet, he appealed to all eligible citizens to get vaccinated. “We will win the battle against COVID-19 together,” he stated. He expressed confidence that the country would have vaccinated every Indian by the end of the month-long ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign. “The staunch political commitment of the Government of India to protect every citizen from COVID-19 through vaccination has enabled the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive to achieve several feats ever since its inception on January16, 2021. The nation achieved the distinction of having administered 100 crore doses on October 21. Subsequently, the Prime Minister gave a clarion call and launched the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign on November 3 to knock at every door and reach out to every household and immunise every citizen against COVID-19 in the spirit of Antyodaya,” Mandaviya said.
The month-long ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ vaccination campaign aims to ensure that all the adult population is covered with the first dose of vaccine, while those who are due for the second doses are motivated to take the second dose. Healthcare workers are conducting door-to-door vaccinations of eligible people across India with a special focus on districts where less than 50 per cent of the eligible population has been vaccinated, the statement said.
The minister also assured people that there was no shortage of vaccine doses in the country and urged them to come forward for the second dose, and motivate those in their family and community to take both the doses.
(Manas Dasgupta)