Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced Rs 35,000 crore for Covid-19 vaccines in Union Budget 2021-22. "Government to provide Rs 35,000 crore for Covid-19 vaccination in 2021-22; I am committed to providing more funds if required," she said.
"India now has one of the lowest Covid-19 death rates of 112 per million population and one of the lowest active cases of about 130 per million. This has laid the foundation for the economic revival we see today: Sitharaman said in Parliament.
She added, "Today India has two vaccines available and has begun safeguarding not only her own citizens against Covid-19 but also those of 100 or more countries. It has added comfort to know that 2 ore more vaccines are also expected soon."
Addressing the nation on his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said that India is conducting the world’s largest Covid-19 vaccination programme.
He said, “We are vaccinating our citizens faster than anywhere in the world. In just 15 days, India has vaccinated over 30 lakh corona warriors, whereas an advanced country such as America took 18 days to get the same done; Britain took 36 days.” “India is capable, self-reliant in the field of medicines, vaccines. The same thought underpins the Atmanirbhar Bharat Campaign. The more India is capable, the more will it serve humanity; correspondingly the world will benefit more,” PM Modi added.
PM Modi pointed out that over 3 million Covid-19 warriors were inoculated in just 15 days in India while the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) took 18 days and 36 days respectively to achieve this target.
The pan-India vaccination drive had started from January 16 where doses of Covaxin and Covishield - both approved by the drug regulator on January 3 - are being administered to healthcare and frontline workers.
India took only 13 days to complete the vaccination of three million (30 lakh) people, fastest in the world, the health ministry has said. This rate of vaccination puts India ahead of the United States which took 18 days to reach the three million mark. Israel took 33 days and the United Kingdom took 36 days to cover three million vaccination, health ministry data revealed. India was also the fastest to reach one million and two million vaccination marks, the health ministry data showed.