India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage exceeds 99 crore: Mansukh Mandaviya
Oct 19, 2021
New Delhi [India], October 19 : India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 99 crore on Tuesday, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
Taking to Twitter, he said, "We are at 99 crores. Go for it India, continue to rapidly march towards our milestone of 100 crore #COVID19 vaccinations."
India's COVID-19 vaccination drive commenced on January 16, 2021. Initially, the vaccination was opened for Health Care Workers (HCWs) only.
From February 2, front line workers were made eligible for vaccination. These included State and Central Police personnel, Armed Force Personnel, Home Guards, Civil Defence & Disaster Management Volunteers, Municipal workers, Prison Staff, PRI Staff & Revenue workers involved in containment and surveillance, Railway Protection Force and election Staff.
This was expanded from March 1 to include persons above 60 years of age and those above 45 years with associated specified 20 comorbidities. This was further expanded to all people above 45 years of age from April 1. From May 1 all persons above 18 years of age were made eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.