New Delhi: India’s vaccination drive will start from January 16, the government announced on Saturday. The date has been decided after the festivals of Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Magh Bihu, etc., the government said.
Healthcare workers and frontline workers, around three crore people, will get first priority. Following them, those above 50 years and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities, estimated to be around 27 crore people.
This was decided at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the status of COVID-19 in the country, along with the preparedness for vaccination.
“The Prime Minister took a detailed and comprehensive review of status of COVID management covering various issues. Emergency Use Authorisation or Accelerated Approval has been granted by the National Regulator for two vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) which have established safety & immunogenicity,” the government said.
The third phase of dry run for COVID-19 vaccination was conducted across the country on Friday in 615 districts covering 4895 session sites in 33 states and UTs.
As part of the dry run, vaccinators and vaccine administrators were trained, the government said. “2,360 participants were trained during national level Training of Trainers which comprised state immunization officers, cold chain officers, IEC officials, development partners etc. More than 61,000 programme managers, 2 lakh vaccinators and 3.7 lakh other vaccination team members have been trained so far as part of trainings at States, Districts and Block levels,” the government said.