Over 90% of India's adult population has received single dose of Covid vaccine: PM

New Delhi, Jan 7 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that more than 90 per cent of India's adult population has received single dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

The Prime Minister was speaking after virtually inaugurating the second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in Kolkata.

He said that today, more than 90 per cent of India's adult population has received single dose of the vaccine. "Within just five days, more than 1.5 crore children have also been administered the first dose," he said.

Dedicating the achievement to the entire country and every government, Modi especially thanked the scientists of the country, the vaccine manufacturers and the people in the health sector for this achievement.

"The new campus will go a long way in providing affordable and state-of-the-art care to the people of West Bengal, especially to the poor and middle class families. In the journey of the pledge to make the best medical care available to each and every citizen of the country, we have taken another strong step," the Prime Minister said.

He mentioned that the country started the year with vaccination for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years. At the same time, India is also achieving the historic milestone of 150 crore - 1.5 billion vaccine doses, in the first week of the first month of the year itself.

"A total of 150 crore doses in less than one year is a significant achievement and symbol of the will power of the country. It denotes the country's new confidence, Aatmnirbharta and pride, he said. As cases are rising due to the Omicron variant, this shield of 150 vaccine doses becomes all the more important," Modi said.

So far, he said, about 11 crore doses of Corona vaccine have been provided free of cost to West Bengal by the government. "More than one-and-a-half thousand ventilators, over nine thousand new oxygen cylinders have also been provided to Bengal. A total of 49 PSA new Oxygen plants have also started functioning in the state," the Prime Minister mentioned.

The Prime Minister said today Ayushman Bharat scheme is becoming a global benchmark in terms of affordable and inclusive healthcare. "Under PM-JAY-Ayushman, more than 2 crore 60 lakh patients have received free treatment in hospitals across the country. Estimates say that in the absence of the scheme, patients would have ended up spending 50 to 60 thousand crore rupees. More than 17 lakh cancer patients also benefited under Ayushman Bharat scheme," he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Union Ministers Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Dr Subhas Sarkar, Shantanu Thakur, John Barla and Nisith Pramanik were among those present on the occasion.