India administers record 2 crore COVID-19 vaccines on PM Modi’s 71st birthday

India on Friday administered over 2 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses in a day for the first time, taking the total number of shots registered so far to over 78.72 crore, as the government raced to deliver a record on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday."A gift to the prime minister on behalf of health workers and people of the country. On the birthday of prime minister Narendra Modi today, India has crossed the historic figure of administering 2 crore vaccine doses in a day, setting a new record. Well done India!" Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted in Hindi.The one crore-mark was crossed by the afternoon, after which ministers and BJP leaders put out tweets urging more to get their shots.Mandaviya said this is the fastest pace at which one crore doses have been administered."On PM @Narendra Modi Ji's birthday, till 1.30 pm, the country has crossed the mark of 1 crore vaccines, the fastest so far, and we are continuously moving forward. I believe that today we will all make a new record of vaccination and give it as a gift to the prime minister," he said in a tweet in Hindi earlier along with the hashtags "VaccineSeva" and "HappyBdayModiji".The daily vaccinations crossed the one-crore mark for the fourth time in less than a month on Friday — the other days being 6 September, 31 August and 27 August.Mandaviya on Thursday had called for a major push to the COVID-19 vaccination drive during Modi's birthday on Friday, saying it would be the perfect gift for him.The BJP has asked its units across the country to help get a large number of people vaccinated on the occasion.India took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30-crore mark, according to the ministry.The country took 24 days to reach 40 crore from 30 crore doses and then 20 more days to cross the 50-crore vaccination mark on 6 August, it said.It took 19 more days to go past the 60-crore mark and took only 13 days to reach 70 crore from 60 crore on 7 September, the ministry said.The total number of doses administered crossed the 75-crore mark on 13 September.The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on 16 January with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from 2 February.The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from 1 March for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from 1 April.The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from 1 May.With inputs from PTI