India completes over 2 crore COVID-19 vaccinations on PM Modi's birthday

This is the first time the country has completed more than two crore vaccinations in one day.

Moneycontrol News

September 17, 2021 / 17:42 IST

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India on September 17 reached yet another milestone by administering over 2 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses till the evening on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 71st birthday. This is the first time the country has completed more than two crore vaccinations in one day.

As many as 2,00,34,207 coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far. The number is set to rise by the end of the day.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya thanked all health workers who have made India’s mega vaccination drive, which started on January 16, 2021, a resounding success.

To celebrate the administration of over two crore COVID-19 vaccine doses in a single day across the country, Mandaviya met with the health workers at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi and said: “Thanks to all health workers. Well done India!”

India was able to achieve this feat on PM Modi’s 71st birthday as several states, including Assam, Karnataka, Bihar, and Gujarat, had planned mega vaccination drives on Friday.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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