India to touch 100 cr COVID vaccination mark next week: Mandaviya

NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday that India will achieve the target of 100 crore COVID vaccinations in the coming week.

"We have administered over 37 lakh vaccines by this time today. We will achieve the target of 100 crore vaccinations in the coming week," said Mandaviya.

The minister made the remark after launching India's COVID-19 vaccination anthem along with Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri . The audio-visual number produced and sung by noted singer Padma Shri Kailash Kher seeks to remove the false narrative and hesitancy surrounding COVID vaccination among the people.

Mandaviya said the anthem is the result of the government's holistic approach to fight the pandemic, adding that the Petroleum Ministry came up with the idea of the anthem to remove vaccine hesitancy.

He said the song will create awareness among the masses about the efficacy of vaccination. The minister said that over 74 per cent of the eligible population in India has received the first dose of the COVID vaccine, while the second shot has been administered to over 30 per cent of the eligible population.

Hardeep Puri said, "Because of Health Minister Mandaviya's tireless work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are going the achieve the target of one billion vaccination within a few days. This is a great achievement and the journey is still on." He said the vaccination programme has become a 'Jan Andolan' now in the country. "We are working as a single unit and it is the result of our combined efforts that mass vaccination drives have become successful in the country," Puri said.

Mandaviya also said that a new song will be released when India crosses the landmark of 100 crore vaccinations. Sources in the Health Ministry said that the 100 crore vaccination figures could be achieved by October 19-20. (IANS)