Sudarsan Pattnaik Sand Artist of Odisha Celebrates Vaccination Milestone With Sand Art

Sudarshan Patnaik’s colourful sand art with a map of India and a large vaccine injection needle is set against the backdrop of the sea to commemorate India’s Covid vaccination milestone.

On the occasion of India reaching the one billion COVID-19 immunizations milestone this morning, sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik made a sand sculpture at the Puri beach in Odisha.

The colourful sand art contains designs of a map of India and a giant vaccine injection needle with the phrases “Congratulations” and “India’s Journey of 100 Crore Vaccinations” written on it, with the sea as a backdrop.

Along with a bar representing immunisation milestones, the sand sculpture included the hashtag #largestvaccinedrive.

Today, India’s cumulative COVID-19 vaccine coverage surpassed 100 crore doses, marking a historic milestone. The coronavirus vaccine campaign began on January 16, 2021, and the government hopes to vaccinate all 944 million adults in India this year.

According to the government, three-quarters of adults in the 1.3 billion-strong country have had at least one vaccination and roughly 30% are fully immunised. To commemorate the achievement, the government scheduled announcements through loudspeakers on trains, planes, and ships, as well as the debut of a song by singer Kailash Kher by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.