As India achieved the milestone of administering 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday, 21 October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauded the achievement as a "bhagirath effort."
Writing for The Indian Express, the prime minister stated that the landmark, which has been achieved using indigenously-manufactured vaccines, marks a paradigm shift for the country.
"More than 180 countries are dependent on an extremely limited pool of producers and dozens of nations are still waiting for the supply of vaccines, even as India has crossed 100 crore doses. Imagine the situation if India did not have its own vaccine. How would have India secured enough vaccines for such a large population and how many years would that have taken? It is here that credit should be given to Indian scientists and entrepreneurs for rising to the occasion."Prime Minister Modi in The Indian Express
"The journey from anxiety to assurance has happened and our nation has emerged stronger, thanks to the world’s largest vaccination drive," the prime minister stated.
"In a nation where governments used to be known to impede forward movement, our government has instead been an accelerator and enabler of progress," he further wrote.
India's landmark of 100 crore vaccinations comes nearly nine months after the inoculation drive was initiated in January.
"There was a lot of pressure from different interest groups to give preferential treatment to them in vaccination. But the government ensured that, like our other schemes, there is no VIP culture in the vaccination drive," the prime minister noted in his piece for IE.
As India administered its billionth vaccine on Thursday, Modi had tweeted: "India scripts history. We are witnessing the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians. Congrats India on crossing 100 crore vaccinations. Gratitude to our doctors, nurses and all those who worked to achieve this feat."
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)