New Delhi: India has hit the milestone of administering 100 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines today. The total vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 100 crore on October 21. In a tweet, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the country on achieving the feat, and said it was the result of the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Also Read - Shah Rukh Khan Gets Mobbed By Crowd Outside Arthur Road Jail After His 18-Minute Meet With Aryan Khan

India took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30-crore mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The country took 24 days to reach the 40-crore mark from 30-crore doses and then 20 more days to surpass the 50-crore vaccination mark on August 6. Also Read - Auto Debit Rule: Facing Trouble During Renewal Subscription Transactions? Here Is Why

It then took 76 days to go past the 100-crore mark. The top five states which have administered the highest number of doses are Uttar Pradesh followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. A series of events have been lined up to celebrate the landmark achievement. Also Read - Apple 'Unleashed' Event 2021 : MacBook Pro And Airpods 3 Launched, Here's How Samsung Reacted | Watch Video

India started its vaccination drive on January 16 this year. At that time, only two vaccines, namely, Covaxin and Covishield were available. India has granted Emergency Use Authorization to six COVID vaccines till date.

India achieve a billion-dose feat: Here’s a Look at the vaccine collections 

  • Three vaccines have been in emergency use namely, Covishield (Oxford AstraZeneca’s vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India), Covaxin (manufactured by Bharat Biotech Limited) and Sputnik V (developed by Gamaleya Research Institute, Russia).
  • Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has also granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to three other vaccines by Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and Zydus Cadila, two of which are expected to help ramp up the vaccination drive by October-November.
  • On January 3, India approved COVID-19 vaccines Covishield and Covaxin for emergency use.
    India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV).
  • As per the official statement by Bharat Biotech, Covaxin demonstrated 77.8 per cent vaccine efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 disease.
  • In India, Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Covishield, is being manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India (SII). The vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees. Notably, this vaccine has been approved by WHO.
  • India may accelerate the export of COVID-19 vaccines under its humanitarian initiative ‘Vaccine Maitri’ by December, according to reports. ‘Vaccine Maitri’ is an initiative that was started by the Government of India to provide COVID-19 vaccines to countries around the world.
  • The third vaccine approved by the DGCI for EUA was Sputnik V. On April 13, the DCGI approved the use of the Sputnik V vaccine, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). According to the medical journal Lancet, Sputnik V is 91.6 per cent effective in protecting against COVID-19.
  • Additionally, the Central government on June 29 granted EUA to US-based pharma company Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, mRNA-1273, making it the fourth such vaccine to be approved in the country.
  • On August 7, US pharma giant Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine Janssen received EUA in India.

Vaccines on Pipeline:

Meanwhile, the government is expecting Biological E to submit data of Phase 3 trials till November end, as per official sources. Next year India will also have its own mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 which is under trial and developed by Gennova company.

Corbevax, developed by Biological E, will be the third made-in-India vaccine against Coronavirus, along with the other two indigenous vaccines, Covaxin and ZyCoV-D.

Children’s Vaccine Drive

On October 12, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the drug regulator recommended granting an emergency use authorisation to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children aged between 2-18 years as well. The SEC has submitted its recommendation to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for final approval. Covaxin is also in the process of getting approval from the World Health Organization.

The vaccine drive for kids may start in the second half of November, with priority given to children suffering from chronic or severe health conditions. The subject expert committee (SEC) under the country’s drug regulator had approved the use of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in children between 2 and 18 years of age. However, the jab awaits approval from the DGI.

(With ANI inputs)