Coronavirus vaccination drive in India will begin on January 16, the government said on Saturday evening. The decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials to review the COVID-19 situation in the country and vaccine roll-out details.
In the first phase, the vaccine will be given first to around one crore healthcare workers and two crore frontline workers, who are more susceptible to catching the disease. The vaccine will be free of cost for this group, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said last week. To check its preparedness, the government had organised two nationwide dry runs.
The next priority group will be people over 50, followed by those under 50 but with co-morbidities. In total around 30 crore people will be vaccinated in the first phase of vaccination.
The Co-WIN app (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network) will be used to manage the massive vaccination drive across the country. Aadhaar numbers will be used to authenticate vaccine beneficiaries. Besides, the Co-WIN app that can send text messages in around 12 languages will be used to intimate people about the vaccination date and time.
The App has been prefed with the data of healthcare and frontline workers. It will auto-populate data for citizens over 50 from electoral rolls. People can approach the district or block officers also to register themselves. The government may also organise camps for registering people for vaccination.