NEW DELHI:
The Indian government’s COVID-19 vaccinations hit 2 billion on Sunday, with booster doses underway for all adults, as daily infections hit four-month high, official data showed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extolled the vaccination milestone, celebrating the world’s largest and longest-running inoculation campaign, which began last year.
“India creates history again!” Modi said in a tweet. The prime minister has faced allegations from the opposition of mishandling the pandemic that experts claim killed millions. The government rejects the claims. Health ministry data shows the COVID death toll at 525,709, with 49 deaths recorded overnight.
#200CroreVaccinations#WellDoneIndia
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) July 17, 2022
मात्र 18 महीनों में 200 करोड़ टीकाकरण का लक्ष्य पूरा कर भारत ने एक नया कीर्तिमान स्थापित किया है। इस उपलब्धि पर सभी देशवासियों को हार्दिक शुभकानाएं।
– डॉ @mansukhmandviya, केंद्रीय स्वास्थ्य एवं परिवार कल्याण मंत्री@PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/gL8fsiXDwW
New cases rose 20,528 over the past 24 hours, the highest since Feb. 20, according to data compiled by Reuters. The country of 1.35 billion people has lifted most COVID-related restrictions, and international travel has recovered robustly.
Congratulations #India for administering over 2 billion #COVID19 vaccine doses.#200crorevaccinations #WellDoneIndia pic.twitter.com/K09cKMKx7f
— WHO South-East Asia (@WHOSEARO) July 17, 2022
Some 80% of the inoculations have been the AstraZeneca vaccine made domestically, called Covishield. Others include domestically developed Covaxin and Corbevax, and Russia’s Sputnik V. The federal government has been accelerating its booster campaign to avert the spread of infections, edging higher in the eastern states of Assam, West Bengal and Karnataka in the south. PTI
