World's biggest vaccination drive against Covid begins today
New Delhi: India is all set to rollout the world's biggest vaccination programme on Saturday with over 3 lakh healthcare workers to be inoculated on the first day of the much-anticipated drive, which the government said is "probably the beginning of the end" of COVID-19.
A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and Union Territories will be virtually connected during the launch at 10.30 am by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.
Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Medical College principal Sudhir Bhandari will be the first person in Rajasthan to be given the shot, while in Madhya Pradesh, a hospital security guard and an attender will be among the first to get the jab.
Modi said the country on Saturday would enter a "decisive phase" in the fight against the pandemic.
"Tomorrow, January 16, India begins the pan-India rollout of COVID-19 Vaccination drive. The launch will take place at 10:30 AM tomorrow morning," he tweeted.
His office had said this will be the world's largest vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country and all preparations are in place to initiate it on the principles of 'Jan Bhagidari'.
On the eve of the rollout, Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the preparations and visited the dedicated Covid control room set up at the Nirman Bhawan premises of the Health ministry.
The vaccination drive has been planned in a phased manner, identifying priority groups. Healthcare workers, both in government and private sectors including ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) workers, will receive the vaccine during this phase, the Health ministry said in a statement.
An online digital platform Co-WIN, developed by the Health ministry, will be used to drive the vaccination programme.
Adequate doses of both Covishield and Covaxin have already been delivered to all states and Union Territories.
A dedicated 24x7 call centre — 1075 — has also been set up for addressing queries related to the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software.
