India administered 2.2 billion doses as a part of the world’s largest Covid vaccination drive without any shortages across the nation resulting in saving 3.4 million lives, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday.
Releasing a book authored by Sajjan Singh Yadav, additional secretary in the Central government at the World Book fair 2023, he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s faith in the Indian scientific community and the stellar healthcare professionals across the country.
This combination led India to conquer insurmountable challenges to achieve a feat no country has achieved before by catering not just to its own population but supplying life-saving vaccines worldwide, Mandaviya said.
The minister also highlighted that when other countries were struggling with vaccine hesitancy, India set an exemplary pro-vaccination Covid management model.
The health minister encouraged writers to inculcate research-based documentation that would lend a voice to India’s treasure of traditions and heritage that lay dormant and forgotten, and bring them to light.
Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary further added that there were 12 kinds of diseases that could be prevented with vaccines. The government provided these vaccines free of cost to expecting mothers, young and neonates.
The book entitled “India’s Vaccine Growth Story- From Cowpox to Vaccine Maitri” provides a detailed account of the world’s largest vaccination drive for Covid-19 undertaken by India.