Thousands of miles away from her country with much of it being below sea level, a woman diplomat of Netherlands was excited to see a bicycle placed at a resort on the bank of a beautiful lake in this scenic Kerala village where side events of the second G20 Sherpa meeting are currently underway.
The bicycle was placed in front of a screen that was erected to showcase CoWIN, a powerful example of how digital technology can expand public health programmes, and reflects the strides India, world's most populated nation, continues to make in digital technology for public services. As she pedaled the stationary bicycle, the screen displayed the fascinating story of India which as of March, 20, 2023 delivered 2.2 billion vaccination doses to 1.1 billion registered persons.
Cycling is part of Dutch life and a very patriotic means of transportation for them. “I did experiment cycling. As a Dutch woman, I love cycling”, she told PTl. Dr Kalyani Raju, a young medical doctor assigned to narrate India's success story to the delegates, said the Dutch delegates really enjoyed pedalling the cycle and took note of the presentation.
She informed the delegates about the historic achievement of the nation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled CoWIN along with the launch of the national Covid-19 vaccination campaign on January 16, 2021. Indian officials said it was indeed a moment marking the beginning of a story that touched over a billion lives in less than 18 months.
They said it took almost nine months to reach the 100 crore mark and another nine months to reach the 200 crore vaccination mark, with the highest single day vaccination record of over 2.5 crore doses achieved on 17 September 2021.
Narrating the story of the biggest vaccination drive in the world, India's Sherpa Amitabh Kant informed the delegates that India's vaccination drive was totally paperless.
