Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10 AM today, his office said. The announcement comes a day after India scripted history by becoming only the second country after China to reach the one billion COVID-19 vaccinations milestone mark.
"PM Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10 AM today," read a one-line tweet by his office.
PM Modi, in an opinion piece today, described India's vaccination drive as a journey from "anxiety to assurance" that has made the country emerge stronger, and credited its success to people's trust in the vaccines despite "various efforts to create mistrust and panic". The landmark figure was achieved in nine months despite many doubting the country's capability, he said.
Shortly after the country reached the 100 crore vaccinations milestone mark before 10 AM on Thursday, PM Modi had congratulated the country's health care workers for helping the country achieve the feat. The milestone is a triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians, he said.
Later while speaking via video conferencing after inaugurating a new building at AIIMS Campus in New Delhi, PM Modi said, "This day of October 21, 2021, has been recorded in history. India has crossed the 100 crore vaccine doses mark sometime back. To combat the biggest pandemic in 100 years, the country now has a strong protective shield of 100 crore vaccine doses. This achievement belongs to India, every citizen of India."
PM Modi has frequently praised health workers for spearheading the vaccination drive.
According to the government, around three-quarters of adults in the country of 1.3 billion people have had one shot and around 30 percent are fully vaccinated.
China is the only nation to dish out more vaccine doses than India, having fully inoculated some 1.05 billion, or 75% of its citizens, as of late September, according to Bloomberg.
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