The Union Health Minister said on Saturday that one crore of health workers and two crore of frontline workers would receive the vaccine for free in the first phase of the inoculation campaign.
As India prepares to carry out the world’s largest immunization campaign, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday that one million health workers and two front-line workers would receive the vaccine for free at the first phase of the inoculation campaign. “In the first phase of vaccination, a free nationwide vaccine will be provided to most priority beneficiaries including 1 crore from healthcare and 2 crore from frontline workers,” Vardhan said in a tweet.
However, he added that details of how the remaining priority beneficiaries of Rs 27 million will be vaccinated until July are being finalized.
The central government plans to vaccinate nearly 30 million people in the first phase of the immunization campaign. The vaccine will be administered to 1 crore of healthcare workers, along with 2 crore of essential and frontline workers, and 27 crore of elderly, mostly over 50 years with comorbidities.
The comment is significant, given that India has recorded the second highest number of coronavirus infections after the United States.
Hours earlier, the Minister of Health had said that the vaccine will be free throughout the country. “Not only in Delhi, it will be free throughout the country,” Vardhan said when asked about the government’s position on the issue.
In particular, the coronavirus vaccine is scheduled to be rolled out soon, as the one developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca has been recommended by a panel of experts, tasked with reviewing COVID-19 vaccine proposals and sent to the Controller General of Drugs of India for approval.
On Saturday, authorities were conducting a mega drill at 259 sites across states and union territories to help officials practice managing vaccine supply, storage and logistics, including cold chain management. .
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