On the 191st day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive on July 25, 18.99 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered across India. (Representative image: Reuters)

The cumulative number COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed the 51 crore-mark, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

India took 85 days to touch the figure of 10 crore. It then took 45 days to cross the 20 crore-mark, 29 days more to reach 30 crore. The country took 24 days to reach 40 crore from 30 crore and then 20 more days to cross 50 crore vaccinations on August 6. In less than three days, one crore vaccine doses were administered in the country.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated and vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.

The next phase of Covid vaccination commenced from March 1 for those over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specific comorbid conditions.

India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 from April 1. The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 eligible to be vaccinated from May 1.

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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(With PTI inputs)

Over 51 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India: Govt

On the 191st day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive on July 25, 18.99 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered across India. (Representative image: Reuters)