New Delhi, September 7
India on Tuesday crossed the milestone of administering over 70 crore Covid vaccine doses, riding on the gains made by eased supplies.
The landmark came a day after India delivered a record over 1 crore doses (1,02,17,844) for the third time in August. India had administered 1,25,77,983 doses on August 31 and a little over 1 crore on August 27. The previous highest daily dose administration record had been 88 lakh on August 17. On Tuesday, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya hailed the 70-crore plus Covid dose delivery mark as a “major milestone” in India’s journey towards inoculating all 94 crore adults by December 31. “Congratulations to all,” the Minister said on a day health ministers of 11 WHO South-East Asia Region member nations adopted a ‘Ministerial Declaration’ resolving to strengthen health system resilience to ensure health security and achieve universal health coverage and sustainable development goals for health. “Resilient health systems are the bedrock of emergency preparedness and response and ensure that when acute events occur, essential health services can be maintained,” said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, at a ministerial roundtable during the ongoing Seventy-Fourth Regional Committee meeting.
