India is expected to cross the 1 billion Covid vaccine dose milestone on Thursday. This comes just over nine months after the nationwide inoculation drive started on January 16, 2021.
Despite the vaccination drive picking up pace, opposition parties have questioned the government over its promise to administer both the doses of the vaccine to the country’s entire adult population by December.
Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said on Wednesday that India has 95 crore adults, according to the last census and it remains to be seen how the government covers all of them in the 70 days left in this year.
The Left parties too questioned if the country will achieve the year-end target of vaccinating all adult population against Covid-19 when only 31 per cent people have received both doses till now.
According to government data, around 75 per cent of all adults have received the first dose of the vaccine and 31 per cent have been administered both the doses. Among the states, Uttar Pradesh has administered the most vaccine doses (above 12 crore), followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat.
The numbers for state wise vaccination coverage has been listed on the MyGov website. Here are the list of states with respective coverage of vaccination:
| Uttar Pradesh | 12,08,84,032 |
| Maharashtra | 9,23,34,244 |
| West Bengal | 6,82,34,821 |
| Gujarat | 6,73,60,662 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 6,67,91,915 |
| Bihar | 6,30,50,262 |
| Karnataka | 6,13,46,876 |
| Rajasthan | 6,07,81,180 |
| Tamil Nadu | 5,34,97,377 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 4,77,28,693 |
The Centre has planned a series of events to mark the 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine. While Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya will release a song on the occasion, the country’s largest Khadi flag will be displayed at the historic Red Fort.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Jagat Prakash Nadda will visit Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad on Thursday to express his gratitude on the occasion. Nadda will reach Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan at 10.30 am on October 21, where he will review the functioning of the vaccination centre, reported news agency ANI.
