Around 3 crore healthcare workers and front line workers will be covered first
The first phase of vaccination against COVID -19 has started in India on January 16, 2020. It will cover estimated 3 crore healthcare workers and front-line workers first. The Health Ministry of India has given emergency authorisation for the use of two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin. The vaccination will also cover persons over 50 and those below 50 with comorbidities (people who have one or more disease) on a voluntary basis. The Co-WIN – vaccine delivery platform will be used to manage registration, appointments, and certification for those taking the vaccines.
The vaccination exercise will use the principles of people’s participation, experience of elections (booth strategy), and Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).
The training was conducted at the national level for State immunisation officers, cold chain officers, and various other departments. There are around 61,000 programme managers, 2 lakh vaccinators (a person who gives vaccine), and 3.7 lakh other vaccination team members who have been trained in each and every State. Around 2 lakh people have been vaccinated in the past two days.
