PM Modi to launch India's coronavirus vaccination drive
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday, January 16, launch India's coronavirus vaccination drive virtually. He will also launch the Co-WIN app on that day. The inoculation program will start at 3,000 sites, to begin with, and later be amplified to 5,000 sites, Dr. VK Paul, a member of the NITI Aayog said. On the first day, three lakh will be inoculated. Here's more.
In the first phase, India will inoculate three crore healthcare and frontline workers, followed by 27 crore people, aged above 50 and those having co-morbidities. Dr. Paul said doses have been transported. "Vaccines have been allotted to states as per their healthcare workers' data. Healthcare workers need not worry, I assure them. They should be the role model," he added.
This week vials of Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which is being manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), and COVAXIN, the vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech, were sent to 12 cities. Two doses of both these vaccines are required to provide protection against COVID-19, which has taken 1,51,765 lives in India. The infection tally of the country stands at 1,05,12,831.
On a related note, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said his administration is well-prepared to administer the doses to healthcare workers. Till now, Delhi has received 2,74,000 doses from the Centre which would be enough to inoculate nearly 1,20,000 healthcare workers. Across Delhi, 2,40,000 healthcare workers have registered themselves, he revealed, hoping that doses to meet the demand would be available soon.
Initially, the vaccination will be conducted at 81 sites, with 100 people receiving doses at every center. Kejriwal revealed that doses will be given on four days every week — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday — to ensure that other vaccination programs aren't affected. Eventually, the number of sites will be increased to 175 and later to 1,000, he assured.
Yesterday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor declared that Delhi will give vaccines free to everyone if the Centre doesn't do so. "I had appealed to the Central government that COVID-19 vaccination should be provided free of cost to all. If the Centre does not do it and a need arises, the vaccine will be provided for free to people of Delhi," he added.
To recall, India has successfully conducted three dry runs, which were hailed by PM Modi. Speaking to chief ministers of all states this week, he underlined that cooperation from all quarters will play a role in the vaccination program. He also asserted that public representatives will not be a part of the three crore population that will get doses first.
