India has administered more 1st doses of COVID-19 vaccines than the US, UK, France and Spain

Since the start of the Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 last year, India has administered first doses to over 90% of its eligible citizens and second doses to 65%.

Releasing these updated figures, the Union Health Ministry has said that a recently published news article by a reputed international news agency claiming that India has missed its vaccination target is misleading and does not represent the complete picture.

In the fight against the pandemic, India’s national Covid-19 vaccination programme has been one of the most successful and largest compared with many developed nations with significantly low population base to vaccinate, said the ministry in a statement on Sunday.

In the drive, India has achieved several milestones unprecedented in the world.

These include administering over 100 crore doses in less than 9 months, administering 2.51 crore doses in a single day and administering 1 crore doses per day on several occasions.

The government also said that over 11 states and Union Territories (UTs) in India had already achieved 100% of first dose vaccination, while three states/UTs have already achieved 100% full vaccination against COVID-19.

Presenting the vaccination status of other developed nations, the ministry said that in case of 1st dose coverage to the eligible population, the US has covered only 73.2% of the population, the UK has covered 75.9% of its population, France has covered 78.3% of its population, and Spain has covered 84.7% of its population.

India has already covered 90% of the eligible population with 1st dose of vaccine against Covid-19.

Similarly, for the 2nd dose, the US has covered only 61.5% of its population, the UK has covered 69.5%, France has covered 73.2% and Spain has covered 81% of its population, the health ministry pointed out.

India has covered over 65% of the eligible population with the 2nd dose of vaccine against Covid-19.

On December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced expansion of the coverage of COVID-19 vaccination to include teenagers in the age-group of 15-18 years from January 3 (Monday).

Further strengthening India’s fight against Covid pandemic, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has given approval to two additional vaccines in December 2021.

This has taken the number of vaccines given restricted use approval in emergency situation in India to eight, clarified the ministry. These include Biological-E’s CORBEVAX vaccine and SII’s COVOVAX vaccine.