JOIN USPM Modi to launch Covid-19 vaccine drive on Jan 16: All you need to know
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to kickstart India's Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 at 10:30 am via video conference.
The Drugs Controller General of India approved the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive. Here is all you need to know about it:
A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and UTs will be virtually connected during the launch and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the first day. Adequate doses of the vaccines have already been delivered to all states and Union Territories.
The Prime Minister is also likely to interact via video link with some healthcare workers from across the country who will be receiving the shots on the first day.
The full initial procurement of 1.65 crore doses of the two Covid-19 vaccines has been allocated to all states and UTs in proportion to their healthcare workers database.
States have been advised to organise vaccination sessions taking into account 10 per cent reserve/wastage doses and an average of 100 vaccinations per session per day. The states and UTs have also been advised to increase the number of vaccination session sites that would be operational every day in a progressive manner as the vaccination process stabilizes and moves forward.
According to the government, the shots will be first offered to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.
The cost of vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers will be borne by the Centre.
(With PTI inputs)