COVID-19 Vaccine First Dose in India Likely by January 13, Says Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan
The first shot of COVID-19 vaccine in India is likely to be given on January 13. Union Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday confirmed the development during a press briefing.
New Delhi, January 5: The first shot of COVID-19 vaccine in India is likely to be given on January 13. Union Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday confirmed the development during a press briefing. Bhushan said, “Based on the feedback of dry-run, the government is ready to introduce COVID-19 vaccine within 10 days from date of emergency use authorisation.”
The development came days after the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) approved the emergency use of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Oxford-Astrazenca’s Covishield against coronavirus infection - for restricted emergency use. Notably, India has the second-highest number of infections in the world, after the United States. COVID-19 Vaccine Latest Update: Covishield and Covaxin Get Approval by DCGI for Emergency Use in India.
The vaccine will be first offered to one crore healthcare workers, along with two crore frontline and essential workers and 27 crore elderly, mostly above the age of 50 years with co-morbidities. On Saturday, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had announced that one crore healthcare workers, along with two crore frontline will get the vaccine for free. COVID-19 Vaccine Dry Run Across India Today, Key Things To Know About the Mega Vaccination Drill.
Ahead of the actual vaccination drive, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) conducted the nationwide dry run on January 2 in 125 districts across 285 locations. In the drive, the medical officer in-charge identified several beneficiaries (healthcare workers). The states and UTs were asked to ensure that the data of beneficiaries is uploaded on Co-WIN, an online platform for monitoring the delivery of the vaccine.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 05, 2021 05:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).