India will witness the commencement of the eagerly-awaited vaccination drive against COVID-19 which has claimed the lives of over 1.5 lakh people in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually launch the immunization program at 10:30 am.
Almost three lakh beneficiaries from the priority groups will be administered the vaccine at over 3,006 vaccination sites spread all over the country and as per reports around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.
The vaccine will be first offered to the healthcare workers, frontline workers, and those above 50 years of age, followed by the population below 50 with comorbidities. After that, the remaining population will be inoculated based on disease epidemiology and the availability of the vaccine.
There are 3,006 session sites across the country, where 100 beneficiaries each will be given either of India’s two indigenous vaccines, Covaxin or Covishield. Every beneficiary will need to receive two doses of the same vaccine, 28 days apart.
Since the pandemic hit India in early 2020, over one crore and 5.27 lakh people have been infected with the disease, while close to 1.52 lakh have died. At present, Kerala and Maharashtra are reporting the highest number of daily cases.
Aadhaar and the Co-WIN platform will be used extensively to identify and monitor beneficiaries.
The government has created a dedicated 24X7 helpline number — 1075 — to address queries related to the vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software.