Jaipur, Jan 16 (PTI) BJP state president Satish Poonia on Sunday said India became the first country in the world to have administered 157 crore vaccines due to the "visionary leadership" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the commitment of scientists.

On completion of one-year of COVID-19 vaccination drive, Poonia said getting two indigenous vaccines in just nine months is a landmark in itself.

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"I congratulate all the frontline and health workers of the country and all the people associated with this campaign who worked hard day and night to help in the development of the vaccine," Poonia said.

He also alleged that a large number of vaccines were wasted in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, which wasted 11.50 lakh doses.

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He said when Modi visited vaccine production companies in November 2021, his political opponents used to comment on him, saying that it is BJP's vaccine.

“They used to mislead the public with such false statements but failed completely. Even after the arrival of the vaccine, the opposition parties spread false rumours about the vaccine.

“But the Prime Minister realized that if there was any way for the 135 crore people to be immune against coronavirus, it was through vaccine,” he said.

Poonia said that after Japanese Encephalitis disease in 1930, it took 83 years for the vaccine to arrive in India, 23 years for the Polio vaccine, and 54 years for the tetanus vaccine, but under the “able leadership” of Modi, the COVID vaccine took just nine months.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday announced that 94 per cent of the adult population in state has at least got one dose of the COVID vaccine.

He also said the state's vaccination average was higher than the national average.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)