Coronavirus vaccination program to start in 10 days: Health Ministry

New Delhi: The vaccination program was expected to possibly initiate soon, following the approval of two vaccines by the union government. The Union Health Ministry announced this on Tuesday. The Union Health Ministry officials announced that the vaccination program would start in the next 10 days. According to this, it is expected that the program will start on the 14th to 15th January. The Health Ministry also underlined that the dry runs, conducted in 5 states, to check the preparations for the vaccination program, were also successful.

The number of Coronavirus cases in the country has crossed 13.5 million. The number of deaths also has reached 150,000. Till date, nearly 10 million Coronavirus patients have fully recovered. Although the number of cases shows a decline since the last month, there are still nearly 16 to 20 thousand new cases reported per day. Simultaneously, the new strain coming in from the United Kingdom has increased the threat. On Tuesday, 11 cases of the new strain were detected in Kerala. Earlier, the number of cases of the new strain had reached 58. On Monday, 21 cases of the new strain were found in the country, out of which 8 were from Maharashtra.

Against this background, two Coronavirus vaccines were approved on an emergency basis, by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). Prime Minister Modi had said that the approval of the vaccines would prove decisive in the battle against the Coronavirus.

Questions were being raised that when the vaccination drive will start, after the Covid Shield vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca and Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Indian Council of Medical Research receive approval. This question was also asked during the press conference held by the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday. The health department official replied that the vaccination program would start in the next 10 days. In the program’s initial phase, health workers, workers playing a vital role in the battle against Coronavirus, police officials will be vaccinated. Nearly 300 million citizens will be vaccinated in the first phase and out of these 270 million are above the age of 50.