Active coronavirus cases in India declined further even as the country flags off the world’s biggest vaccination drive from today.
India reported 15,158 new cases in a matter of 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data as of 8 a.m. on Jan. 16. That’s lower than the 16,977 patients who recovered from the virus in the same time period, taking active cases to 2.11 lakh. India had over 10 lakh live infections in mid-September.
Almost a year since the first coronavirus case was detected in Kerala, the stage is set for India to begin its inoculation drive. Over 3 lakh healthcare workers are likely to receive their first dose of the vaccine, an event which the government has referred to as “probably the beginning of the end” of Covid-19.
A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and union territories will be virtually connected during the launch and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the first day.
The vaccination drive has been planned in a phased manner, identifying priority groups. Healthcare workers, both in government and private sectors including Integrated Child Development Services workers, will receive the vaccine during this phase, the health ministry said in a statement.
India has, so far, approved emergency use for two vaccines. The first is the Astrazeneca-Oxford vaccine, marketed as Covishield by Serum Institute of India Ltd. The second is the contentious Covaxin of Bharat Biotech International Ltd., which is yet to complete its human stage trials and provide further efficacy data.
An online digital platform Co-WIN, developed by the health ministry, will be used to drive the vaccination programme.
Track all developments around the Covid outbreak and the vaccine rollout, here.