India marked the 1 billionth dosage of COVID-19 vaccine administered Thursday, with the government celebrating the achievement through song and dance, even as a recent decline in vaccinations concerns health officials.
Following a delayed start in mid-January, India's vaccination campaign has reached three-quarters of the country's 944 million adults with at least one dose, but only 30% with two. This year, the government is urging all adults to be vaccinated.
"India scripts history... We're witnessing the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of (1.3 billion) people," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter.
Modi commemorated the event with a visit to a New Delhi government hospital. The health ministry planned musical and other events taking place throughout the country, as well as unique illuminations of national landmarks, including a colonial-era detention facility.
Almost 90% of vaccinations delivered in India are manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), which also makes a licensed version of the AstraZeneca vaccine. SII's capacity has more than tripled since April, and the company can now produce 220 million vaccine doses per month.
SII has also gradually begun exports for the first time since April, when the government halted all international sales to address local demand following a sharp increase in infection rates.
The World Health Organization, which mainly relies on India for vaccine supply for its global vaccine sharing network COVAX, congratulated the country on hitting the milestone.
"India's progress must be considered in the perspective of the country's commendable dedication and efforts to enable worldwide access to these life-saving vaccines," Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO South-East Asia regional director, said in quotes by Reuters.
India has so far documented 34.1 million COVID-19 cases and over 452,000 fatalities, the majority of which occurred during a second wave of Delta variant infections that swept through the country in April and May.
Despite enough supplies, a "significant proportion" of individuals in India have failed to take their second dose by the due date, the health ministry said Tuesday, as new cases plummeted to their lowest level since early March.
Daily vaccinations have averaged 5 million this month, less than 25% of September's peak, despite states sitting on record stockpiles of more than 100 million as local production of the AstraZeneca vaccine surges.
