PM Modi to address nation at 10am as India crosses Covid vaccine landmark

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10am today, his office said on Twitter as India celebrates the milestone of administering 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses on Thursday.

"The journey from anxiety to assurance has happened and our nation has emerged stronger, thanks to the world’s largest vaccination drive,” said Modi in an opinion piece for Business Standard.

India has administered the second-highest number of doses in the world, next only to China, which is said to have given over 2.2 billion doses to its citizens. Nearly 31 per cent of the adult population is now reportedly fully vaccinated while 75 per cent has received their first dose.

The country has so far reported 34.1 million Covid-19 cases and more than 452,000 deaths, most during a second wave of infections of the Delta variant between April and May.

"India scripts history," Modi said on Twitter on Thursday when India crossed the vaccine landmark. "We are witnessing the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of (1.3 billion) Indians."

Modi marked the occasion by interacting with healthcare workers and a security guard at a government hospital in New Delhi. The health ministry announced musical and other programmes across the country, and special illuminations of national monuments including a colonial-era jail, Reuters reported.