Vaccination drive at such massive scale unprecedented in history: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the pan-India COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conference on 16 January. This is the world’s largest vaccination program covering the entire length and breadth of the country.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 16 Jan 2021 9:43 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the pan-India COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conference on 16 January. This is the world's largest vaccination program covering the entire length and breadth of the country.
The Prime Minister put the unprecedented scale of the vaccination drive in perspective by informing that in the first round, three crore people, which is more than the population of at least 100 countries, are being vaccinated. He said the numbers will go up to 30 crores in the second round when the elderly and people with serious co-morbidities will be vaccinated. There are only three countries - India, USA, and China – that have a population of more than 30 crores, the Prime Minister said, adding that such scale of vaccination campaign has never been attempted in history.
While launching the massive vaccination drive, Mr. Modi also reassured people and said the made-in-India vaccines have been approved for emergency use only after scientists and experts were fully convinced about their safety and efficacy. He pointed out that 60 per cent of children around the world receive life-saving vaccines made in India and that pass through stringent Indian scientific tests. This trust in Indian vaccine expertise and Indian vaccine scientists is going to be further strengthened by the made-in-India COVID-19 vaccine, he added.
While claiming that Indian vaccines are not only cheaper then the foreign vaccines, Mr. Modi said they are also easier to administer. Some of the foreign vaccines, the Prime Minister pointed out, are priced at Rs. 5,000 per dose and have to be stored at minus 70 degrees whereas Indian vaccines are based on technology that has been tried and tested for many years in India. With regard to storage and transportation, Mr. Modis said the Indian vaccines are suitable for Indian conditions.
Mr. Modi termed the Indian response to COVID-19 as one of self-confidence and self-reliance. He recalled the journey from one COVID-19 lab to a strong network of 2,300 labs, from dependence to self-sufficiency to exporting masks, PPEs, and ventilators. He called upon people to show the same self-confidence and self-reliance during the vaccination drive.
