India's coronavirus vaccination drive will begin on January 16, the government said Saturday evening, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the country.
Priority will be given to the healthcare workers and the frontline workers, estimated to be around three crore in number, the government said, adding that they would be followed by 27 crore people consisting of those above 50 years of age and then those under 50 with co-morbidities.
The government had earlier approved two vaccines for emergency use in the country - Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Covishield, which was developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and is being manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India.
Meanwhile, India has recorded more than 1.04 crore coronavirus cases till now, according to official figures. On Saturday, 18,222 new cases were reported, marginally higher than yesterday.1.5 lakh deaths have been reported in the country so far.
