Largest COVID-19 vaccination drive: India administers over 20 lakh doses in a day

The Health Secretary apprised the meeting on India achieving the landmark of administering more than 20 lakh doses in a single day.

Picture credit: Reuters

New Delhi: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced that India had held the largest COVID-19 vaccination drive with 20 lakh inoculation shots administered. 

Dr PK Misra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting to assess the progress on Tuesday (March 9) evening. This meeting To meeting was held to review the status and progress of Covid-19 vaccination across states and Union Territories (UTs).

According to an official release, the meeting was attended by Chief Secretaries and the officers involved in the vaccination effort in the states/UTs, secretaries to the Government of India from ministries/ department of Health, Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology, Health Research, Member (Health), NITI Aayog and CEO (NHA) were also present during the high-level review meeting.

"Health Secretary apprised the meeting on India achieving the landmark of administering more than 20 lakh doses in a single day. The country is approaching 2.5 crore total vaccination coverage, powered by the fastest recent growth in vaccination globally," the release said.

Misra commended all officials across the Central and state governments, for their critical role in the now successful rollout of the world’s largest vaccination drive, and also reinforced the need to continue this momentum in a sustained manner.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba who also attended the meeting advised the states to ramp up the speed of vaccination, to cover as many eligible people as possible, in as short a duration as possible; especially given the large population to be covered.

"States were asked to prepare a detailed roadmap for the next three months for achieving the same. Chief Secretaries/ senior officials of the states and UTs briefed about the progress of vaccination in their respective jurisdictions, giving valuable feedback and suggestions," the release added.