India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide rollout of the vaccine drive against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on 16 January.––
The drive will be the world’s largest vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country. A total of 3,006 session sites across India will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day.
This vaccination programme is based on the principles of priority groups to be vaccinated, and government and private sector healthcare workers will receive the vaccine during this phase.
The programme will use Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which will facilitate real time information of vaccine stocks. It will also facilitate storage temperature and individualised tracking of beneficiaries for the COVID-19 vaccine.
This digital platform will assist programme managers across all levels while conducting vaccination sessions.
A dedicated, round-the-clock call centre has also been established for addressing queries related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software.
Adequate doses of both COVISHIELD and COVAXIN have already been delivered across the country with the active support of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. These have been further delivered by the State/UT governments to the districts.*
