Bill Gates Congratulates PM Modi As India’s Vaccination Coverage Crosses 200 Crore

India's total COVID-19 vaccination coverage has now crossed 200.61 crore. Bill Gates congratulated PM Modi on achieving this milestone.

More than 200 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in India, since the country launched its nationwide vaccination programme on January 16, 2021. On Wednesday morning, the country's COVID-19 vaccination coverage was recoded at 2,00,61,24,684, achieved through 2,64,58,875 sessions, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

So far, over 3.81 Cr (3,81,47,897) adolescents (12-14 year) have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. India started COVID-19 vaccination for this age group on March 16, this year. The country also began administering COVID-19 precaution dose to adults aged 18-59 years from April 10, 2022.

Bill Gates lauds PM Modi for achieving another milestone

Microsoft founder Bill Gates congratulated India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi of administering 200 crore vaccinations.

"Congratulations @narendramodi for yet another milestone of administering #200crorevaccinations. We are grateful for our continued partnership with Indian vaccine manufacturers and the Indian government for mitigating the impact of COVID19," the billionaire wrote on Twitter.

Responding to Bill Gates' the congratulatory tweet, the Prime Minister mentioned the collective efforts of scientists, doctors and nurses in scaling India's vaccination drive.

He tweeted, "India's vaccination drive is big on speed and scale. It has been powered by collective efforts of many, including scientists, doctors and nurses. At the same time, the people of India have shown remarkable faith in science and taken their doses in a timely manner."

India sees over 20,000 new COVID cases in a day

With 20,557 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's active caseload currently stands at 1,45,654.

As per the health ministry, the country's daily positivity rate currently stands at 4.13 per cent while the weekly positivity rate is calculated to be 4.64 per cent.

In the last 24 hours, a total of 4,98,034 COVID-19 tests were conducted across the country. Until now, India has conducted more than 87.06 Cr (87,06,53,486) cumulative tests, the health ministry stated.