India will start its COVID vaccination drive on 16th January 2021. The government will give priority to healthcare workers and frontline workers. which are estimated to be around thirty million people.
The government on Saturday evening announced the Covid vaccination drive details after Prime Minister, Narendra Modi lead a high-level meeting with other senior officials. The meeting was hosted to evaluate the Covid-19 situation in India and to finalize the vaccine launching details.
“Priority will be given to around one crore healthcare workers and two crore frontline staff, like doctors, community health workers, and police, who are directly involved in fighting the pandemic. The vaccine will be free of cost for this group”, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Health Minister announced last week.
After them, the next group to receive the vaccination shots will be people over the age of 50, followed by those who are under 50 but with co-morbidities. Around 30 crore people will be vaccinated in the first phase, Reported NDTV.
“On 16th January, India takes a landmark step forward in fighting COVID-19. Starting that day, India’s nationwide vaccination drive begins. Priority will be given to our brave doctors, healthcare workers, frontline workers including safai karamcharis.” Prime Minister, Narendra Modi tweeted.
- VACCINATION DRIVE DETAILS
CoWIN app, which is short for (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network) will be used to manage this huge vaccination drive. This CoWIN app is said to provide real-time information on vaccine stocks and storage temperatures. Not only that, but the app is also said to provide individualized tracking of vaccine beneficiaries.
This app is launched by the Government of India and over 79 lakh beneficiaries have already registered themselves, said the Government of India. The CoWIN app is yet to be launched but it will accept Aadhaar card numbers to verify vaccine beneficiaries. The app will send SMS with details of vaccination and the date and time. It can send SMS in at least 12 different languages.
“Individuals can approach the district or block officer to resolve issues”, Dr Suneela Garg, a Delhi COVID-19 task force member said.
People below the age of 50 can upload medical certificates to authenticate co-morbidities and secure an appointment.
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