New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive January 16 via video conferencing. Adequate doses of the two made-in-India COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered India. All the states and Union Territories have received the COVID-19 vaccines, the government said Thursday.
This will be the world’s largest vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of India. Preparations are in place to initiate the programme on the principles of ‘Jan Bhagidari’, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.
A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and UTs will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the first day, the statement said.
Separately, sources said Modi is likely to interact via video link with some healthcare workers from across India who will be receiving the shots on the first day.
Officials at AIIMS and Safdarjung hospitals here, which are among the shortlisted facilities, said they are ‘ready for a two-way communication’.
The PMO statement said the vaccination programme is based on principles of priority groups to be vaccinated first. Healthcare workers, both in the government and private sectors, including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, will receive the vaccine during this phase.
Also read: Centre to bear expenses for COVID-19 vaccination of healthcare, frontline workers
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier this month approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield. It is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII). The DCGI has also approved Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech. The approval of the two vaccines has paved the way for a massive inoculation drive.
The vaccination programme will use Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by Union Health Ministry. It will facilitate real-time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine. This digital platform will assist programme managers across all levels while conducting vaccination sessions, the PMO said.
A dedicated 24×7 call centre – 1075 – has also been established for addressing the queries related to COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software.
Earlier in the day, the Health Ministry said, “The massive countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive will be rolled out by Prime Minister from January 16. Therefore, it has been decided by the Ministry of Health in consultation with the office of the President of India to reschedule the Polio vaccination day, also known as the National Immunisation Day (NID) or ‘Polio Ravivar’ to 31st January.”
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. Therefore, any undue haste on the parts of the states to organise unreasonable numbers of vaccination per site per day is not advised, the ministry had said Wednesday.
According to the government, the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and around two crore frontline workers. Then the shots will be given to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.
Cost of vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers will be borne by the central government.
