On the 16th of January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to launch the most awaited Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 vaccination drive in India.
Nearly 30 crore citizens of India including frontline workers like doctors, medical staff, police personnel, sanitation staff, senior citizens (people above 50 years old) and people with comorbidities would get the first doses of India made COVID-19 vaccination.
The nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive was organised to be launched after two India made vaccines got approval for emergency use authorisation (EUA.)
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the Serum Institute of India (SII) made Covishield and the Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech International Private Limited made COVAXIN, for today’s drive.
Today’s launch would be a big step towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, which started in India in December 2019.
The pandemic had an adverse effect on the lives of people, the economy of the nation and changed the dynamics of people in terms of living. Since the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus, the Nation was under the set of rules and Standard Operation Procedure (SOPs,) small and large businesses were affected, unemployment increased and the education system also got disturbed.
However, with the biggest drive for COVID-19 vaccine, people hope to overcome the pandemic.
Over 3 lakh healthcare workers are set to be inoculated on the first day of the vaccination drive. The vaccination administration would be held at 3,000 sites across India.
There will be a registration and waiting room, a vaccination zone and an observation room.
Once the beneficiary reaches the site at the designated time and date, they would produce identification documents.
When they are verified, they would be sent to the vaccination room where they would receive the shot. After the shot the beneficiary needs to wait in the observation room and would be under observation for 30 minutes. There are emergency kits, ambulances and 24×7 helpline centres for the drives.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate the vaccination drive at 10:30 A.M., through a video conference.
The Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan reviewed the preparations on the 15th of January.
The vaccination drive has been planned in a phased manner, identifying priority groups and informing candidates via phones.
According to the Government, the shots would be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and around 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.
About 1.5 lakh staff in 700 districts have been specially trained to tackle the drive.
Government of all states and union territories (UTs) updated the details of people taking the COVID-19 vaccines on the Cowin portal developed by the Government of India.
Stay tuned for further updates.
