India's Journey To 1 Billion Covid Shots. See Timeline

The vaccination drive was opened to all adults on May 1, even as several states continued to flag vaccine shortage.

India on Thursday reached the milestone of one billion or 100 crore Covid shots administered in the country, the second after China to do so. India reached the landmark in 278 days, having begun the vaccination drive on January 16.  

So far, over 70 crore people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while over 29 crore people are fully vaccinated with both doses. The Narendra Modi government has been reiterating that all of India's adult population - around 94 crores - will vaccinated against Covid by December.  

India began its vaccination drive in a phased manner, starting with health workers. Frontline workers - paramilitary forces, police, civic workers among others - became eligible for the vaccine from February 2. By February 28, India had administered over 1.4 crore doses.  

Vaccinations were expanded to people above the age of 60 and those over 45 with co-morbidities in March. Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first beneficiary under the new category, when he took his vaccine at Delhi's AIIMS. Several top politicians followed.