US Embassy congratulates India on administering 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses

The United States Embassy in New Delhi on Thursday congratulated India on administering 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Calling it a "milestone", the Embassy tweeted, "Congratulations to India on administering its 1 billionth dose of COVID-19 vaccine today - a major milestone in the world's efforts to combat the global pandemic."

In a landmark achievement, India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 100 crore doses on Thursday.

A total of 100 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far to eligible beneficiaries, as per the CoWIN portal at 9:47 am today.

India's COVID-19 vaccination drive was launched on January 16, 2021. From February 2, front line workers were made eligible for vaccination. These included State and Central Police personnel, Armed Force Personnel, Home Guards, Civil Defence & Disaster Management Volunteers, Municipal workers, Prison Staff, PRI Staff and Revenue workers involved in containment and surveillance, Railway Protection Force and election staff.

The vaccination drive was expanded from March 1 to include persons above 60 years of age and those above 45 years with associated specified 20 comorbidities. It was further expanded to all people above 45 years of age from April 1. From May 1 all persons above 18 years of age were made eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.

( With inputs from ANI )

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