The vaccination drive will kick off on January 16, 2021. Priority will be given to the healthcare workers and the frontline workers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the status of COVID-19 in the country along with the preparedness of the State/UTs for COVID vaccination, today. The meeting was attended by Cabinet Secretary, Principal Secretary to PM, Health Secretary, and other senior officials concerned.
The vaccination drive will kick off on January 16, 2021. It will be held after forthcoming festivals including Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Magh Bihu etc.
Priority will be given to the healthcare workers and the frontline workers, estimated to be around 3 crores in number, followed by those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities numbering around 27 crore.
PM Modi took a detailed and comprehensive review of status of COVID management covering various issues. It is to be noted that Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on January 3 had granted restricted emergency use authorisation to the Serum Institute of India (SII)'s 'Covishield' and Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' vaccine.
Covishield is over 70 percent effective, while Covaxin is currently in the Phase 3 trials but is "safe and provides a robust immune response", the drug regulator had said last week.
While the full efficacy of Covaxin is yet to be determined, it was given go-ahead by the DCGI citing 'public interest'. Covaxin is an indigenously developed vaccine by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research.
PM Modi was apprised about the Co-WIN Vaccine Delivery Management System. The unique digital platform will provide real time information of vaccine stocks, their storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 vaccine. This platform will assist the program managers across all levels through automated session allocation for pre-registered beneficiaries, their verification, and for generating a digital certificate upon successful completion of the vaccine schedule. More than 79 lakh beneficiaries have been already registered on the platform.
He was also briefed about the preparedness status of the Centre in close collaboration with the State and UT governments for rollout of the vaccine in the near future. The vaccination exercise in underpinned by the principles of people’s participation (Jan Bhagidari); utilizing experience of elections (booth strategy) and Universal Immunization Program (UIP); no compromise of existing healthcare services, especially national programs and primary health care; no compromise on scientific and regulatory norms, other SOPs; and an orderly and smooth implementation driven by technology.
Modi was also apprised on the three phases of dry runs having been conducted across the country. The third dry run was conducted yesterday across 615 districts covering 4895 session sites in 33 States/UTs.
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