COVID-19 Vaccination Drive in India: Here are 5 Facts About the World's Largest Immunisation Programme Against Coronavirus Set to Begin Tomorrow

New Delhi, January 15: The much waited, world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive in India is all set to begin on January 16. PM Narendra Modi will show green flag to the vaccination drive at 10:30 am on Sunday, virtually said the Prime Minister's office. On the first day of roll out, around 3 Lakh people will be vaccinated at 3,006 sites all over the country. PM Narendra Modi To Launch Pan India Rollout of COVID-19 Vaccination Drive on 16 January at 10.30 AM, Around 100 Beneficiaries to be Vaccinated at Each Site.

Ahead of the vaccination drive, Centre has issued guidelines to be followed. As per government's guidelines, COVID-19 vaccination is allowed only for 18 years and above.Pregnant women or who are not sure of their pregnancy and lactating mothers shouldn't receive the vaccine, it added. Administration of COVID-19 vaccine should be done separated by an interval of 14 days and the second dose should be of the same vaccine of which the first dose was administered. COVID-19 Vaccination Drive in India: Much-Awaited Coronavirus Vaccination Drive Will Kick Off on January 16, Says Health Ministry.

Here are 5 Facts About the World's Largest COVID-19 Vaccination Drive Set to Begin Tomorrow :

• The vaccine will be administered to one crore healthcare workers, along with two crore frontline and essential workers, 27 crore elderly people, mostly above the age of 50 years. People under 50-years with comorbidities will also be vaccinated on priority.
• PM Narendra Modi will launch the CoWIN app, a digital platform created for real-time monitoring of coronavirus vaccine delivery and distribution on Saturday itself. States and UTs have already uploaded data of health workers to be vaccinated on the app.
• As per the guidelines issued to the shortlisted COVID-19 vaccination sites, healthcare workers (those registered in Co-WIN to be vaccinated) shall include not only doctors, nurses but also nursing orderlies, safai karamcharis, ambulance drivers, and would be from a mixed age group, including above 50 years.
• A dedicated 24x7 call centre - 1075 - has also been established for addressing the queries related to the pandemic, COVID-19 vaccine rollout and providing guidance on the Co-WIN software.
• Two indigenously manufactured vaccine against coronavirus -Covaxin and Covishield -will be administered to the citizens.The full initial procurement of 1.65 crore doses of these vaccines have been flown to all states and UTs for the first phase of vaccination.

The beneficiaries of the COVID-19 vaccination drive will receive a message on Friday with the allotted site and time. All the states and UTs have geared up to undertake the world's largest immunization programme against coronavirus. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan once again on Friday ensured about the safety of the both the COVID-19 vaccines and said, "This is the beginning of the end of COVID. "

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 15, 2021 07:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).