India set another landmark in its fight against Covid-19, as it administered 2 billionth (200 crore) dose of the vaccine on Sunday.
From the first dose against Covid-19 administered on January 16, 2021, it took about 548 days for India to hit the milestone of 200 crore doses. India had crossed the first milestone of 100 crore doses on October 21, 2021, which is about 279 days since the start of the mass vaccination across the country.
The country got to the second milestone in a slightly shorter period of 269 days, buoyed by the 75-day, free precautionary dose campaign for 18 to 59-year-olds. In celebration of India’s 75th Independence Day, the Centre had announced this free campaign, starting July 15.
As per the data shared on the COWIN dashboard, the administration of 200 crore doses includes 101.9 crore doses as the first dose, while 92.6 crore doses as the second and 5.49 crore as precaution dose.
In anticipation of the 200-crore milestone, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had tweeted a countdown to witness history in the making.
The Health Minister also tweeted a time lapse video of the COWIN dashboard with the vaccination numbers inching towards 200 crore and another tweet congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the achievement.
Out of the 200 crore doses, the Serum Institute of India (SII)‘s Covishield vaccine was used for 159.44 crore doses while Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin was used for 33.48 crore doses.
Besides these two vaccines, there were two other vaccines used in the mass vaccination drive of the government — the Russian vaccine Sputnik V and Corbevax developed by Biological E.
The COWIN database also stated that 27.90 crore doses have been administered to senior citizens above 60 years of age, while a maximum of 111.39 crore doses were administered in the age group of 18-44 years. The minors age group 12-17 years received a total of 17.49 crore doses in total. The age group of 45-60 years received 41.57 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
On Saturday, July 16, 2022, a total of 25 lakh doses were administered with most vaccinations happening for precaution doses in the age group of 18-59.
As per the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data, as on July 17, India reported total covid cases at 4.37 crore of which 1.43 lakh were active cases and 5.25 lakh deaths reported as on Sunday morning. Total recoveries stood at 4.31 crore.