New Delhi:

Hooting over announcement speakers and tricolour hoisting at the Red Fort are among the plans of the government to celebrate the moment India crosses the landmark of one billion or 100 crore vaccine doses, Health Ministry sources have said. There will be announcement at every railway station, in trains, planes and ships across the country and national flag will also be raised at the North and South Block in the national capital, they said.

The milestone will be hit in the next few days with some 75 percent of those eligible have already been administered one shot and around 30 percent double vaccinated, as per the sources.

The government has also laid out a plan to showcase the milestone as a major achievement in its COVID-19 fight. The BJP has asked its ministers, MPs and MLAs, and national and state functionaries to attend events in pockets across the country, sources in the party have said.

The sources earlier said the immunisation exercise has slightly slowed down due to the festivals of Durga Puja and Navratri. The government now plans to step up the exercise after Dussehra to reach the 100 crore mark at the earliest.

India is the world’s largest vaccine producer but the country halted exports of Covid jabs earlier this year to focus on its domestic needs after a devastating infections surge overwhelmed hospitals.

But with vaccination rates now high and coronavirus cases down sharply, exports have resumed in recent days.

According to the CoWIN dashboard, 97 crore doses have been administered so far. Nearly 27 lakh doses have been administered so far with more than 50 per cent of those (around 15 lakh) being the second dose.