Watch Video! PM Modi launches nation-wide COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conference

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched nation-wide COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conference today and almost three lakh beneficiaries, belonging to the priority groups, will be administered the silver bullet at over 3,006 vaccination sites across the country. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.

The world's biggest vaccination drives comes almost a year after the first coronavirus case was detected in India, which then claimed over 1.5 lakh lives and infected one crore people. The first case came to the fore on January 30, 2020 in Kerala. The vaccination drive will mark the beginning of the end of the pandemic.

Two vaccines Oxford Covid vaccine Covishield manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and indigenously developed Covaxin by the Bharat Biotech will be administered to priority groups. So far, the Central government has procured 1.1 crore Covishield and 55 lakh Covaxin vaccines at a cost of Rs 200 and Rs 206 per dose, respectively.

The vaccine will be first offered to the healthcare workers, frontline workers and those above 50 years of age, followed by the below 50 population with comorbidities, and finally to the remaining population based on disease epidemiology and vaccine availability.

The Covid-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) system, a digital platform, will be used to track the enlisted beneficiaries on a real-time basis. Prime Minister Modi also launched the app today.