India celebrates 'Tika Utsav' to combat COVID-19

New Delhi [India], April 11 (ANI): With an aim to vaccinate maximum number of eligible people against COVID-19, India on Sunday launched the four-day-long 'Tika Utsav' or vaccination festival.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called 'Tika Utsav' the beginning of the second big war against corona.
In a tweet, he also made four requests to the citizens. "We are going to begin 'Tika Utsav' today nationwide. I urge countrymen to abide by four things - assist those who need help getting inoculated, help people in COVID treatment, wear masks and motivate others and if someone tests positive, create micro-containment zone in the area," he said.
Following PM Modi's clarion call for mass vaccination, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan asked the nation to unite to fight the pandemic.
"Time to re-energise efforts to Unite2FightCorona. Let's answer Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call as he kicks off Teeka Utsav with four requests * Each one, vaccinate one * Each one, treat one * Each one, save one * Help identify, create micro-containment zones," tweeted the Health Minister.
States across the country from Madhya Pradesh to Tamil Nadu ramped up their efforts to increase the vaccination process.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh took his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday at the launch of 'Tika Utsav' in Imphal's Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences.
Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar launched the 'Tika Utsav' at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute in Bengaluru on Sunday.
In Jharkhand, eligible people queued up outside an inoculation centre in Ranchi's Ashok Nagar to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
People in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Delhi also participated in huge numbers in Tika Utsav and got themselves vaccinated.
The four-day-long vaccination programme, which started on Sunday on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and will continue till the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar on April 14, aims to inoculate the maximum number of eligible people against the coronavirus.
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India crossed the 10 crore mark and as many as 10,15,95,147 people have been vaccinated against the virus in the country so far.
The Tika Utsav is observed at a time when the COVID-19 curve is rapidly increasing in the country. In the highest single-day spike, India reported more than 1.52 lakh new COVID-19 cases on Sunday. This is the fifth consecutive day when more than one lakh cases have been reported in the country. (ANI)