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History Today: How India administered its first Covid-19 vaccine on this day
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  • History Today: How India administered its first Covid-19 vaccine on this day

History Today: How India administered its first Covid-19 vaccine on this day

FP Explainers • January 16, 2025, 08:50:40 IST
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As the world struggled with Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021, India, on January 16, launched its vaccination drive against the virus. Sanitation worker Manish Kumar was the first to receive the dosage at Delhi’s AIIMS Hospital. What other historic events took place on this day?

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History Today: How India administered its first Covid-19 vaccine on this day
India began its vaccination programme on January 16 2021, operating 3,006 vaccination centres on the onset. Illustration: Santanu Kumar Santan

Through the years, several big events have taken place on January 16, shaping the world’s history as we know it.

In our ongoing series History Today , we deep dive to relive the past and the biggest stories that took place today.

On this day in 1991, US President George HW Bush announced the start of Operation Desert Storm to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. Back in 1945, German Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler retreated to his underground bunker on this day after his defeat in World War II. Today also marks India’s fight against the Covid-19 virus — the country began its vaccination drive.

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Let’s take a closer look at what all happened.

India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive begins

On this day, January 16, 2021, India’s fight against Covid-19 got a boost when it began its vaccination drive. Manish Kumar, a 34-year-old sanitation worker at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), became the first Indian to receive the vaccine.

Kumar was administered a shot of Covaxin. Speaking after the jab, he said, “I did not know that I am the first person to receive the vaccine. I had a good sleep last night, came here (hospital) in the morning and talked to the other staff who were to get the shot.

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Sanitation worker Manish Kumar, who according to the officials was the first person in the country vaccinated against the COVID-19, receives a dose of Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN during the coronavirus disease vaccination campaign at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi. File image/Reuters

“Many of them were scared. So, I went to my seniors and said I should be given the vaccine first. I wanted to prove to my colleagues that there is no need to be scared.”

Since then, India has administered over two billion doses of vaccine against the virus, making it one of the most successful immunisation drives in the world.

The Persian Gulf War begins

Many remember today, as it was the day the Persian Gulf War commenced.

At 4:30 pm EST, the first fighter aircraft were launched from Saudi Arabia and off US and British aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf on bombing missions over Iraq.

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All evening, aircraft from the US-led military coalition pounded targets in and around Baghdad as the world watched the events transpire in television footage transmitted live via satellite from Baghdad and elsewhere.

Hitler retreats to his bunker

The Russians were closing in and Berlin was under a barrage of bombing raids. It was then on January 16, 1945, that Adolf Hitler went underground, living out his remaining 105 days in the Führerbunker before he died of suicide.

Hitler’s bunker, as seen in this model, had 30 rooms. It was located in the Reich Chancellery gardens near the Brandenburg Gate. File image/AP

But this was no ordinary bunker. The structure that stands even today was equipped with its own heating, electricity and water.

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On April 29, Hitler even married his companion, Eva Braun, in their bunker hideaway. However, the couple only enjoyed a few hours of marital bliss when they died by suicide.

This Day, That Year

>> On this day, in 1547, Ivan the Terrible was crowned “tsar and grand prince of all Russia.”
>> In 1919, prohibition begins in the US as the 18th Amendment Constitution prohibits the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors.
>> In 1979, the Shah of Iran flees the country. As a result, Ayatollah Khomeini took power and proclaimed the Islamic Republic.

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