Vaccine Hesitancy Greatest Threat In Overcoming Covid Pandemic, Says SII’s Adar Poonawalla

New Delhi: Adar Poonawalla, the Chief Executive Officer of the Serum Institute of India, on Wednesday, said that Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy is now the greatest threat in overcoming this pandemic. He further added that that 200 million Covid vaccine doses were lying with the states and people should get themselves inoculated as soon as possible.

“The vaccine industry has worked tirelessly to provide enough stocks for the nation. Today there are over 200 million doses available with states. I urge all adults to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Vaccine hesitancy is now the greatest threat in overcoming this pandemic,” Poonawala tweeted.

Earlier today, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the number of fully vaccinated individuals against COVID-19 has surpassed the partially vaccinated eligible population for the first time in the country.

This feat has been made possible due to the prime minister’s vision of ‘Jan-Bhagidari’ and Whole of Government Approach , people’s faith and confidence in the government, and the ongoing ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign which has seen a tremendous response from various parts of the country, Mandaviya said.

“In a significant achievement to the nationwide vaccination coverage for the country, for the first time the number of fully vaccinated individuals has surpassed those who have been administered only a single dose of vaccine,” the minister said in a statement.

The country has in total administered over 113.68 crore doses, according to the provisional report at 7 am. This has been achieved through 1,16,73,459 sessions. Out of which, 75,57,24,081 doses were administered as first dose and 38,11,55,604 doses were administered as second dose. The number of fully vaccinated individuals (38,11,55,604) exceeds those who have been administered a single dose (37,45,68,477), the minister said.

The Union Health Minister congratulated the collective spirit of the country on this achievement. In a tweet, he appealed to all eligible citizens to get vaccinated. We will win the battle against COVID-19 together, he stated.

The Union Health Minister expressed confidence that the country will have vaccinated every Indian by the end of the month-long ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign, according to the statement. The staunch political commitment of the Government of India to protect every citizen from COVID-19 through vaccination has enabled the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive to achieve several feats ever since its inception on January 16, 2021.

“The nation achieved the distinction of having administered 100 crore doses on October 21. Subsequently, the prime minister gave a clarion call and launched the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign on November 3 to knock at every door and reach out to every household and immunise every citizen against COVID-19 in the spirit of Antyodaya , Mandaviya said.