PM Modi lauds India for administering 150 cr anti-COVID-19 vaccine doses

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya were present at the event.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said the country started 2022 with vaccination for teenagers in the 15-18 age group.

At the same time, India was also achieving the historic milestone of 150 crore - 1.5 billion vaccine doses.

"150 crore doses in less than one year is a significant achievement and a symbol of the will power of the country. It denotes the country's new confidence, Atma Nirbharta and pride," he said.

"As cases are rising due to the Omicron variant, this shield of 150 crore vaccine doses becomes all the more important," he said.

Modi said more than 90 percent of India's adult population had received a single dose of the vaccine and within five days more than 1.5 crore children would have also been given the dose.

Talking about the campus, the Prime Minister said it will go a long way in providing affordable and state of the art care to the people of West Bengal, especially to the poor and middle class families.

“In the journey of the pledge to make the best medical care available to each and every citizen of the country, we have taken another strong step,” he said.

He dedicated the achievement to the whole country and every government. He thanked scientists, vaccine manufacturers and people in the health sector for this achievement.

He said about 11 crore doses of corona vaccine have been provided free of cost to West Bengal.

More than one and a half thousand ventilators, more than nine thousand new oxygen cylinders have also been provided to Bengal.

Commenting on the fear that cancer causes in the poor and middle class due to financial implications, Modi said the country was taking continuous steps for cheap and accessible treatment.

He said regulation of prices of more than 500 medicines was saving more than Rs 3,000 crore annually.

The second campus of CNCI has been built in line to expand and upgrade the health facilities in all parts of the country.

CNCI was facing a heavy load of cancer patients and a need for expansion was being felt for sometime. This need will be fulfilled through the second campus.

The second campus has been built at a cost of over Rs 540 crore, out of which around Rs 400 crores have been provided by the Union government and rest by the West Bengal government.