India likely to reach next billion Covid doses in 3 to 4 months: Vaccine panel head

Around 75% of India's all eligible adult population have been administered at least the first Covid-19 vaccine dose

As India made a milestone on Thursday by achieving one billion vaccine doses in nine months, experts have said that the country will clock in the next billion doses in about three to four months.

"How do I reach 100 per cent of the population by the end of the year? At least one dose we should be able to give most of the adults by the end of the year and within the next 4-6 weeks second doses will also be given," Dr NK Arora, who heads the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration told NDTV.

Also read: After 100-crore vaccines mark, focus now on the unvaccinated, second dose beneficiaries

Around 75 per cent of India's all eligible adult population has been administered at least the first dose and around 31 per cent has received both doses of the vaccine.

Medical experts said that they expected to reach this target much earlier but the delay was caused by low supply. About 80-90 crore doses have been arranged for the next three to four months, after which we will scale up in an even bigger way, Dr Arora added according to the report.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, congratulated the country and called it "the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians".

Narendra Modi visited the RML hospital in Delhi on Thursday to mark the 1 billion jabs milestone. He congratulated the country and called it "the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians".

Uttar Pradesh has administered the highest number of doses so far, followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.

India's Covid-19 vaccination drive was launched on 16 January 2021. Initially, the vaccination was opened for Health Care Workers only and from 2 February, front-line workers too were made eligible for vaccination.

The vaccination drive was expanded from 1 March to include people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years with specific comorbidities. It was further expanded to all people above 45 years of age from 1 April. From 1 May, all people above 18 years of age were made eligible for Covid-19 vaccination.

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