National Vaccination Day, which falls on March 16 every year, assumes more importance and meaning in the light of people queuing up for their Coronavirus vaccine shots. But before we dwell into the future, here's a little flashback.
Also known as Immunisation Day, National Vaccination Day was first observed in 1995 because this was the day when the first polio vaccination was administered in India. And it was in the year 2014 that India was declared polio-free. Remember the Pulse Polio immunisation campaign? It all started in Vellore, Tamil Nadu. It was this town that was 100% polio-free first. And the rest of India followed soon.
Coming to Coronavirus, Indians over 60 and those between 45 and 59 who have illnesses have been given the go-ahead to get vaccinated and there are two choices, Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield or manufactured by Bharat Biotech, Covaxin.
Precious pandas
Which animal is black, white and Asian? The adorable panda bear! And guess what? March 16 happens to be Giant Panda Bear Day. The next best thing to watching cat videos all day is watching these teddy bear-like creatures munching on the leaves, stem and root on bamboo. But their numbers are fast dwindling. Only 1,864 of them are left in the wild.
