In commemoration of the nation's Covid vaccine drive which began on January 16 last year, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya released a commemorative postal stamp on Sunday.
Mansukh Mandaviya, minister of health, released the stamp during a virtual event and described India's vaccination drive as the "most successful in the world".
ICMR and Bharat Biotech have developed Covaxin as a joint venture in recognition of the #1YearOfVaccineDrive, realizing the dream of self-reliant India of PM Narendra Modi ji, Mandaviya said in a tweet.
In the same tweet, the Minister also thanked and congratulated all the scientists. He shared a graphical representation of how India's vaccination drive began, along with how it managed to administer over 150 crore shots in a year.
Vaccination drive marks its first anniversary in India as over 156.76 crore vaccination doses have so far been administered under 1,68,19,744 sessions. In the past 24 hours, over 66 lakh vaccination doses have been administered.
Taking to Twitter, Mandaviya said: "16th January 2021 will always be remembered! Congratulations India on crossing 157 crore Covid-19 vaccinations that too in just 1 year. With PM Narendra Modi Ji's mantra of 'Sabka Prayas', India has emerged as an example in the world in fight against Covid-19."
India's collective fight against Covid pandemic began on January 16 last year with the vaccination drive across the nation.
The drive was later expanded to citizens and people with comorbidities, and finally all above 18 plus. The drive for administering precaution doses to the healthcare workers, frontline workers and 60 plus individuals commenced this month on January 10.