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PM Modi addresses nation, talks of BJP govt’s achievement in vaccinating citizens before Covid hit
The Prime Minister dedicated a significant share of his speech to talking about what the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government has been able to achieve in terms of vaccination before the pandemic started.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Monday said that India was close to achieving 100% vaccination coverage when Covid-19 hit the nation.
“We were advancing towards 100% vaccination coverage when covid-19 surrounded us,” said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister dedicated a significant share of his speech to talking about what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government has been able to achieve in terms of vaccination before the pandemic started.
“If you look at the history of the last 50-60 years, it used to take India decades to get the vaccines from abroad. Foreign countries would conclude vaccination drives while ours would wait for it to start,” he said
“Be it polio, smallpox, or hepatitis-B, the citizens have waited for these vaccines for years,” he added.
He further stated that during his first tenure the vaccination coverage across the country was only around 60%, a fact that worried the then newly formed government since by that estimate it would have taken the nation 40 years to vaccinate all eligible citizens.
“When we were given an opportunity to serve in 2014 the vaccination coverage across India was only around 60%, a very worrying fact. The pace at which vaccination was being carried out it would have taken the country almost 40 years to achieve 100% vaccination,” he said.
“To solve this issue, we launched Mission Indradhanush, to vaccinate on war footing. Anyone who needed a vaccine would be vaccinated. We worked in mission mode and within 5-6 years vaccination coverage went from 60 to 90, we increased the speed and the extent of vaccination,” he added, claiming Mission Indradhanush was launched to include the poor and their children in their purview, something which has never been done before.
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“To save kids from lethal diseases we made them part of the drive, we were worried about the poor, the children and the children of the poor who had never been vaccinated,” he added.
The Prime Minister also assured citizens of increasing vaccination supply in the coming months
“Vaccine supply will be increasing in the coming days. Seven companies in the country are producing different vaccines, 3 vaccine trials at an advanced stage,” he stated.
Commenting on the ongoing vaccination drive PM Modi said that more than 23 crore vaccine doses have been administered in India so far.
