India Launches World’s Largest Covid-19 Vaccination Drive
Covid-19 vaccination program began in India on Saturday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the vaccination program at 10:30 am (local time).
This Coronavirus vaccine program is one of the world’s biggest vaccination program, India media report.
Narendra Modi inaugurated a video conference at 3,000 vaccination centere across the country. One hundred people will be vaccinated in every session at each center.
The vaccination program will use shots of — one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and the other by Bharat BioTech — manufactured in India.
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The Covid-19 vaccines are being given to those who are at the highest risk, Modi said. India’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said 3 crore health workers and front-line workers will be given the vaccine for the first time.
The Health Minister also said that 1.5 lakh workers in 700 districts have been trained to carry out the vaccination. After that, another 27 crore Indians will be vaccinated. In this case, people over 50 years of age will get priority. After them, the people under 50 who have multiple diseases will be vaccinated.
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On the first day, around 3,00,000 people will get the first of the two doses. Meanwhile, India’s Covid-19 cases rose to 1,05,42,841 so far. And the recoveries have surged to 1,01,79,715 so far, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
The country reported 1,52,093 deaths with 175 daily new fatalities, the data (updated at 8:00 am) showed.
Guidelines for Mass-Education Programs
India has already issued a new guideline for the general public for the mass vaccination program under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The general public will be vaccinated in accordance with certain rules. The guidelines say that only people aged 18 and over will be vaccinated. The vaccine must be kept in place for at least 14 days between the two doses. The second dose must be from the same company of the first dose. No other company will be allowed. Those with allergies or having an allergy problem after the first dose of the Coronavirus vaccine will not get the second dose.
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Also, the breastfeeding mothers, and pregnant women can not participate in this mass vaccination process. Patients who have been cured from the disease can be vaccinated four to eight weeks after the day of recovery. Those with a Coronavirus infection and active symptoms will also be vaccinated after four to eight weeks.
In addition, patients with cancer, who have been given SARS-Cov-2 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, need to consult with specialists. Vaccines cannot be given to those who are in hospital, whether they are in ICU or not, in a serious condition.
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