National Vaccination Day -March 16th 2022

Vaccination is a very important aspect when it comes to our health. A vaccine protects us from highly contagious diseases and develops antibodies inside of us that are artificially designed to fend off the contagious disease. In the recent Coronavirus pandemic, we saw how vaccination prevented and brought down the death rate during the 3rd wave. In the first and second waves, it was simply impossible to develop the vaccine as scientists were unaware of the genetic makeup of the virus. But in India, it was a really commendable effort on the part of all the scientists, biologists, and pharmacists that they were able to develop the vaccine in such a short period of time. But do we know how the process of vaccination started in the first place? Let’s get to know some facts about National Vaccination Day and get to know a bit of its history. So, as we all are aware that vaccination helps prevent diseases. Thus, this day is pretty important in India and is observed every 16th of March. This day is special in India because on this day India started on its landmark mission in eradicating polio disease from the country. On the 16th of March, 1995 the first dose of the polio vaccine was administered in India. For children aged 0-5 years, it is compulsory for them to have two drops of polio vaccine. In 2014, WHO declared India a ‘polio-free country’. The last active case of polio in India was found in Bengal in 2011. After this massive success, India is now working on vaccines for Mumps, TB, Tetanus, and many more. Now let’s have a look at some of the amazing facts related to this important day. 1. The Government of India launched a mission named Mission Indradhanush that worked solely towards child and mother care by providing them vaccines for several diseases. It was started because many mothers and children were deprived of vaccination and hadn’t received any. 2. The aim of this mission is to eradicate child deaths by 2030. 3. The largest COVID-19 vaccination program is undergoing in the country whereby the Government hopes to provide 100 percent vaccination to all citizens of India. In India, National Vaccination Day takes up several themes year after year to create awareness as to how vaccines are life-savers and can provide immunity for life. This year’s National Vaccination Day theme is ‘Vaccines Work for All’. So, we hope that you enjoyed this bit of history and would now not shy away from taking vaccines for COVID-19 or any other contagious disease