India is set to launch its Covid-19 vaccination drive from January 16, the central government announced on January 9 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the pandemic situation.
As the country gets ready for the drive, here is everything you need to know about it:
Who will get the Covid-19 vaccine first?
Around three crore healthcare workers and frontline workers have been prioritised for the initial stage of the drive. After that 27 crore people consisting of those above 50 years of age and then those under 50 with co-morbidities will be vaccinated.
According to the Health Ministry guidelines on Covid-19 vaccination, the latest electoral roll for Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections will be used to identify the population aged 50 years or more.
How has India prepared for the drive?
As the vaccinators and vaccine administrators comprise a crucial pillar of the vaccination exercise, as part of their training process, 2,360 participants were trained during a national-level exercise (training of trainers) comprising state immunisation officers, cold chain officers, IEC officials and development partners among others.
India has so far conducted three dry runs of the Covid-19 vaccination drive. The first dry run was held December 28 in four states – Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat and Punjab. This was followed by mock drills on January 2 at 286 session sites across 125 districts, while the third phase was held on January 8 in 736 districts across 33 states and Union Territories.
More than 61,000 programme managers, two lakh vaccinators and 3.7 lakh other vaccination team members have been trained so far as part of training at states, districts and block levels.
How to register for Covid-19 vaccine?
The eligible beneficiaries will be informed through their registered mobile numbers regarding the healthcare facility where the vaccination will be provided and the scheduled time for the same. The registration of a beneficiary is mandatory for vaccination for Covid-19. Only after registration on the official portal, the information on the session site to visit and time will be shared with the beneficiary.
Following the online registration, the beneficiary will receive an SMS on their registered mobile number informing about the due date, place and time of vaccination.
Co-WIN — a vaccine delivery management system — has been developed to provide real-time information of vaccine stocks, their storage temperature and individualised tracking of beneficiaries of the Covid-19 vaccine. However, healthcare and frontline workers will not be required to register themselves as the app is not available for the public yet.
When people come under the population priority group, there the provision of registration and editing of data would come.
"Then the system electronically allows session allocation... the beneficiary has been vaccinated this will also be digitally captured and he would be given this information digitally that when he has to come for the next dose. They will also get an acknowledgement, a unique health ID would also be generated," Rajesh Bhushan had explained.
This software will assist the programme managers across all levels in the conduct of the vaccination sessions. A dedicated 24x7 call centre has also been established for technical queries of Co-WIN users. The cold chain infrastructure along with sufficient supplies of syringes and other logistics have been ensured to begin Covid-19 vaccination drive.
This platform will assist the programme managers across all levels through automated session allocation for pre-registered beneficiaries, their verification and for generating a digital certificate upon successful completion of the vaccine schedule. More than 79 lakh beneficiaries have been already registered on the platform.
What are the documents required for the registration?
A valid ID with a photo such as driving license, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) job card, PAN card, passbooks issued by Bank/Post Office, passport, pension document, service identity card issued to employees by Central/ State Govt./ Public Limited Companies and voter ID may be produced at the time of registration.
Which vaccines will be available in India?
India has granted emergency use authorisation to two vaccines, Oxford's Covishield being manufactured by Serum Institute in India and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
At least seven other vaccines are being developed in India, while some others can be imported from abroad, including the one developed by global pharma giant Pfizer which has already applied for import and sale in India of its vaccine for emergency use authorisation.
Which other countries have started the vaccination drive?
In December 2020, the UK became the first country to start vaccination, followed by several other nations, including the US, Belarus, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Malta, Mexico, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and the UAE.
(With PTI inputs)