Bill Gates Congratulates PM As India Crosses 200-Crore Covid Vaccinations

New Delhi: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on yet another milestone of administering 200 crore vaccinations in India. Taking to Twitter, Bill Gates expressed gratitude for the continued partnership with Indian vaccine manufacturers and the government for mitigating the impact of COVID-19.

Congratulations @narendramodi for yet another milestone of administering #200crorevaccinations. We are grateful for our continued partnership with Indian vaccine manufacturers and the Indian government for mitigating the impact of COVID19, Microsoft co-founder tweeted on Wednesday.

A year after the launch of the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination drive, the country crossed the milestone of administering 200 crore vaccination doses on Sunday.

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India has “created history again”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

India creates history again! Congrats to all Indians on crossing the special figure of 200 crore vaccine doses. Proud of those who contributed to making India’s vaccination drive unparalleled in scale and speed. This has strengthened the global fight against COVID-19, PM Modi tweeted.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted: “Witness the history in making! India under PM @NarendraModi Ji’s leadership is all set to achieve the 200-crore COVID-19 vaccination mark! Countdown starts.”

On Tuesday, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that India’s cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage exceeded a total of 200.33 crores.

Yasumasa Kimura, Representative, UNICEF India also congratulated India for the milestone,

UNICEF congratulates India on reaching the remarkable milestone of administering 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccination. Guided by the country’s leadership, relentless efforts of many actors including healthcare and frontline workers, have made this tremendous achievement possible. Completing two billion doses of vaccines in 18 months in a country as vast and diverse as India, is a phenomenal accomplishment and a testament to the grit and dedication of India’s health workers who have worked tirelessly to boost vaccination coverage in all parts of the country, despite the challenges of repeated pandemic waves, inclement weather, difficult terrain and hard-to-reach areas. This is a moment to also honour the hard work of scientists, health practitioners, vaccine manufacturers, and policy makers who ensured timely availability and equity in vaccines reaching all. Driven by the vision of vaccinating its eligible population, backed by meticulous planning, India has successfully achieved this milestone. Since the beginning of the pandemic response, UNICEF is pleased to have extended support to the Government of India by procuring and supplying over 4,195 pieces of electrical cold chain equipment, including walk-in coolers, freezers, ice lined refrigerators, and deep freezers. We also supplied more than 600,000 pieces of cold boxes and vaccine carriers.

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Mr Mandaviya launched ‘Covid Vaccination Amrit Mahotsav’ at Covid Vaccination Camp in Nirman Bhawan on Friday and appealed to the masses to get the free dose so as to ensure protection against COVID-19.”

All Health Ministry employees initiated their inoculation of the free doses. My appeal to all citizens above the age of 18 years to get the free dose to ensure your protection against COVID19, said Mr Mandaviya.

“On ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, all eligible populations (18+) can get a free precaution dose for the next 75 days, starting today,” he added.

The free vaccination drive has been launched with an aim to increase the uptake of the precautionary dose of the COVID vaccine among the eligible adult population.

This special vaccination drive is a part of the celebration of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and aims to provide free precaution doses for all adults (18 years and above) eligible population at Government COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs).

The Centre has announced a special drive ‘COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsava’ to be launched to provide free precaution doses at all Government Covid Vaccination Centres for persons aged 18 years and above for 75 days from July 15 to September 30, 2022.

Those eligible for the precaution dose include all persons above 18 years who have completed 6 months (or 26 weeks) from the date of administration of the 2nd dose.

(With Inputs From Agencies) 

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.