Country achieves another milestone of administering 150 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses

India scripts history by crossing the landmark of 150 crore Covid19 vaccination doses today. This remarkable feat was achieved in less than a year. AIR correspondent reports that Since the start of the National COVID vaccination drive on 16th January last year, the country has administered over 90 percent of 1st dose and 65 percent of 2nd dose to its eligible citizens.

It may be recalled that under the world's largest vaccination drive, 100 crore vaccination coverage was achieved in just 279 days on the 21st of October last year.

As part of the Nationwide Vaccination Drive, Central government has been supporting the States and Union Territories by providing them COVID vaccines free of cost. All citizens irrespective of their income status are entitled to free COVID-19 vaccination at government vaccination centres.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to day congratulated the country for achieving the milestone of administering 150 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. He said in the first week of the first month of the new year India is achieving the historic landmark of administering 150 crore Covid 19 vaccine doses.

This is the symbol of the new resolution of India which denotes self-confidence and self-reliance, he said.

The Prime Minister thanked the scientists, vaccine manufacturers, and health workers for the feat. The Prime Minister was speaking after inaugurating the second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI) in Kolkata this afternoon via video conferencing.

Mr. Modi has said that the nation has advanced to another step towards providing better healthcare facilities to the people. It will help the poor and common people who are suffering from cancer.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandavya was present at the second campus in Newtown, Kolkata, while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was attending the programme virtually.

The second campus of CNCI has been built in line with the Prime Minister's vision to expand and upgrade the health facilities in all parts of the country. CNCI was facing a heavy load of cancer patients and a need for expansion was being felt for some time. This need will be fulfilled through the second campus.

The second campus of CNCI has been built at a cost of over 530 crore rupees, out of which around 400 crore rupees have been provided by the Union government and rest by the West Bengal government, in the ratio of 75:25. The campus is a 460 bedded comprehensive cancer centre unit with cutting-edge infrastructure for cancer diagnosis, staging, treatment and care.

The campus is equipped with modern facilities like Nuclear Medicine (PET), 3.0 Tesla MRI, 128 slice CT scanner, Radionuclide therapy unit, endoscopy suite, modern brachytherapy units etc. The campus will also work as an advanced cancer research facility and will provide comprehensive care to cancer patients especially those from Eastern and North-Eastern parts of the country.