India passed the milestone of one billion coronavirus vaccine doses on Thursday.

The country celebrated the occasion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited a hospital in the capital, New Delhi. He congratulated the nation and praised the medical fraternity for its effort in achieving the goal.

India initiated its vaccine drive in January this year.
More than 30 percent of its eligible population are fully vaccinated, while 75 percent have received a single dose. India is vaccinating its people over the age of 18 and plans to initiate vaccinations for children soon.

India has reported more than 34 million COVID cases, second only to the United States. Over 450,000 people have lost their lives. Infections in the country have plunged since early October, to below 20,000 per day.

Meanwhile, Singapore has extended its restrictions for another four weeks. The measures include limiting social gatherings to just two people and working from home. Authorities say the aim is to ease the pressure on the healthcare system. The city-state has seen a rapid increase in infections, hitting a record high of nearly 4,000 on Tuesday.

But Singapore is cautiously reopening amid the surge.
It has expanded a program that allows quarantine-free entry for fully vaccinated people from ten countries, including the US and the UK.