Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu, launched “Vaccinate India Programme” on August 24, 2021. On the occasion, he appealed to the people to strictly follow COVID-19 norms.

• This programme was organised by Give India Foundation and Sustainable Goals Coordination Centre in Bengaluru.
• It was launched under CSR in association with Planning Department of the Karnataka government.
• Programme was organised at Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru.
• During the programme, two women were vaccinated as a symbolic gesture.

India started its COVID-19 vaccines programme on January 16, 2021. As of August 23, more than 588 doses have been administered including first and second doses of recently approved vaccines. India firstly approved the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine that was manufactured under license by Serum Institute of India & named as Covishield as well as Covaxin that was developed locally by Bharat Biotech. These vaccines have now been joined by Sputnik V, Moderna vaccines, ZyCoV-D and Johnson & Johnson. India crossed the milestone of 500 million doses on August 6, 2021 within 6 months of onset of the vaccination program.

DGCI approved emergency use of Johnson and Johnson single-dose vaccine on August 7, 2021.

Sputnik V is being manufactured under license by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, with additional production from Serum Institute of India to be started from September 2021.

India granted the emergency use approval for world’s first DNA based COVID-19 vaccine called ZyCoV-D on August 20, 2021. It has been manufactured by Zydus Cadila for adults and children aged 12 years and more. This vaccine is administered through a needle-free applicator.