New Delhi: With the 2.5-crore Covid vaccination target on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday firmly in sight, the central government has started preparing for another vaccine landmark — the administration of 100 crore doses.
While no date has been set for this target, the health ministry has planned to celebrate the day with events across the country that will involve Covid warriors and ground-level healthcare staff who are key to vaccinations.
One date being tentatively discussed for this is 7 October, which will mark 20 years as head of a government for Modi. He served as chief minister of Gujarat before taking office as PM in 2014.
According to top sources in the health ministry, 100 crore vaccine doses are expected to be achieved by 5 to 10 October. As of Friday morning, a total of 77.24 crore vaccine doses have been administered.
“Once we hit 100 crore doses, we are planning celebrations across the country with Covid warriors, healthcare workers and also those on the frontlines, particularly health workers who have died of the disease. We will decide on the date,” said a ministry functionary.
“For us, 7 October is a very important date. 7 October 2021 would mark 20 years of prime minister Narendra Modi being the head of a state, on that date in 2001 he had taken oath as the chief minister of Gujarat,” the functionary added.
The celebrations for 100-crore vaccinations are still in the planning stages. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is said to have sought ideas on how to honour Covid warriors during the celebrations, especially those who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Meanwhile, the Centre had announced a special vaccination drive “Vaccine Seva” to mark PM Modi’s 71st birthday Friday. As of 5.27 pm, a record 2.03 crore doses have been administered. The previous vaccination record was over 1.32 crore doses on 31 August.
“We are doing about 3,000-4,000 vaccinations every second. At this rate we will easily cross 2.5 crore by the end of the day. We did not set any targets. This is a spontaneous outpouring of how citizens feel about the prime minister. We have ensured there is no dearth of vaccines, till last night about 7 crore vaccine doses were available with states,” the functionary added.
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1 crore Zydus vaccines expected by month-end
Sources in the health ministry also noted that about one crore doses of Zycov D, the three-dose DNA vaccine manufactured indigeneously by Zydus Cadila, are also expected by the end of September or beginning of October.
While the vaccine can be administered to children above 12 years, there are no plans as yet to start vaccinations for children, with the focus being firmly on meeting the target of vaccinating all adults with at least dose by the end of the year.
“Let us wait for Covaxin to clear trials,” said a health ministry source, referring to the ongoing trial of the Bharat Biotech vaccine on children aged over 2 years.
The health ministry also believes that vaccine supplies are now no longer a problem in India and will soon address vaccine hesitancy to achieve the year-end target.
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WHO nod for Covaxin expected next week
While 80 per cent vaccines administered in India have been Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, there has been continued anxiety over the World Health Organization’s nod to Covaxin.
Without WHO’s approval, those who received the vaccine cannot travel abroad.
However, top government sources said that the nod is expected next week.
“The meeting is due to happen next week. The approval should be through either on September 23 or on September 26,” said a senior official who is involved very closely in Covid management.
(Edited by Rachel John)
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