With the administration of 73.8 lakh vaccines being administered on Saturday, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has now crossed the 90 crore mark (90, 51,75,348), data released by the Health Ministry on Sunday morning showed. 

Over 20 crore Indians have now been fully vaccinated which constitutes around 25% of the total adult population.

“Shastri ji gave the slogan 'Jai Jawan – Jai Kisan'. Revered Atal ji added 'Jai Vigyan' and PM Narendra Modi Ji gave the slogan 'Jai Anusandhan'. Today the result of anusandhan is this corona vaccine," Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted.

There has been a sharp acceleration in India’s vaccination drive after the government made available free vaccines for everyone and production has been stepped up.

Also read:  Quad partnership is on track to produce 1 billion vaccine doses in India, Biden tells world leaders

India gave 60 lakh jabs on an average every day in August, compared to 43 lakh daily jabs in July, according to official data. But September has seen a rise with more than 74 lakh doses administered daily as vaccine production also shot up in the country.

Back on world stage

India is developing new vaccines and also ramping up production capacity of existing vaccines which will enable it to supply doses to other countries as well, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the Global Covid-19 summit on September 22. 

“For this, the supply chains of raw materials must be kept open,” the Prime Minister said. 

Backing US President Joe Biden’s statement on increasing vaccine supply to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic, PM Modi said, “With our Quad partners, we are leveraging India's manufacturing strengths to produce vaccines for the entire Indo-Pacific region.”

PM Modi said, “two indigenously developed vaccines have received Emergency Use Authorization in India, including the world's first DNA-based vaccine. Several Indian companies are also involved in licensed production of various vaccines.”

He said that earlier this year, India-made vaccines had been shared with 95 other countries, and with UN peace-keepers.