In Pics | India's Covid-19 vaccination drive: 'Tika Utsav' Day 1

Asserting that the 'Tika Utsav', a vaccination drive between April 11 and 14, marks the beginning of the second big war on Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 11 made several suggestions to people on tackling the virus and urged them to focus on personal and social hygiene. The mass vaccination drive aims to inoculate maximum number of eligible people against the coronavirus amid a surge in cases.Here's a look at the first day of the 'Tika Utsav' in India(Image Credit: PTI)

A 'Tika Utsav' or vaccine festival is being marked in the country from April 11-14 at the behest of PM Modi with an aim to inoculate maximum number of eligible people against the coronavirus amid a surge in cases.

In these four days of the vaccination drive, targets have to be set at personal, societal and administration's level, all efforts be made to meet them, Modi said.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also issued an appeal to people to get vaccinated in large numbers during the 'Tika Utsav'.

On April 10, the health ministry said that India is the fastest nation to administer 100 million doses in 85 days.

The daily count of positive cases reached new record highs in the last few days despite having dipped to about 20,000 a few weeks back.

While some states have flagged a

Prime Minister Modi had urged chief ministers to focus on vaccinating all those who are above 45 years in age in high caseload districts.

Maharashtra on Sunday crossed the 1-crore mark in vaccinations, the first state in India to do so.

As the country battles a second wave of infections by pushing for faster vaccinations, new Covid-19 cases in India surged to a record of 152,879 on April 11.

India's tally of more than 13.35 million cases is the third-highest globally, behind only Brazil and the United States.