PM: Over 40 crore people vaccinated against Covid

New Delhi: Vaccine is given in the 'baahu' (arm) and those who take it become 'Baahubali', Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday and asserted that over 40 crore people have become 'Baahubali' (strong) in the fight against coronavirus.

Addressing reporters ahead of the start of the session, Modi also said the inoculation programme in the country was moving forward at a fast pace.

"Vaccine is given in 'baahu' (arm), and those who take it become 'Baahubali'. The only way to become Baahubali to fight against corona is to get vaccinated. More than 40 crore people have become Bahubali in the fight against coronavirus," he said.

The Prime Minister's remarks triggered reactions from netizens, who referred to the South Indian hit movie 'Baahubali' which had a very strong protagonist.

Tagging Modi's remarks, a Twitter user said, "Makes sense - there are 2 parts to Baahubali - dose 1 and dose 2".

"Corona virus is like katappa and will attack again from behind. We can't be careless as in real life, there would be no sequel," tweeted another user, referring to another character in the two-part epic movie.

Noting that the pandemic has engulfed the whole world, Modi said he wants that there should be a meaningful discussion regarding the pandemic on high priority.

Modi said he wants meaningful discussions in Parliament over the COVID pandemic which has gripped the entire world.

"We want a discussion in the House as well as outside the House with all the floor leaders. I am constantly meeting the chief ministers and all kinds of discussions are happening in different forums. So I also want to meet the floor leaders as House is going on and it will be convenient and we can talk about it (the pandemic) face-to-face," he said.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said it took 85 days to inoculate 10 crore people against COVID-19, while due to the "vaccine for all, free vaccine" campaign, it took only 24 days to reach 30-40 crore vaccination coverage.

The new phase of universalisation of COVID-19 vaccination started from June 21.

The inoculation drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance vaccine availability to states and union territories (UTs) for better planning by them and streamlining the supply chain, according to the Union health ministry.

In the new phase, the Centre procures and supplies at no cost 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced in the country to states and UTs.

India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 40.64 crore, according to health ministry data updated in Monday morning.