Historic moment: India all set for
   Date :16-Jan-2021

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  • It’s a beginning of end of COVID-19, says Vardhan.
  • Prime Minister Modi to launch Co-WIN app today.
  • A dedicated 24x7 hotline - 1075 - to be launched to address questions related to vaccine, app.
ALMOST a year after reporting the first case of deadly coronavirus, which has claimed over 1.5 lakh lives in India till now, the country is set to witness a historic moment on Saturday with the commencement of the eagerly-awaited vaccination drive against the dreaded disease.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually launch the world’s largest vaccination programme at 10:30 am on Saturday and almost three lakh beneficiaries, belonging to the priority groups, will be administered the silver bullet at over 3,006 vaccination sites across the country.
 
Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site. The vaccine will be first offered to the healthcare workers, frontline workers and those above 50 years of age, followed by the below 50 population with comorbidities, and finally to the remaining population based on disease epidemiology and vaccine availability. Healthcare workers, both in Government and private sectors, including Integrated Child Development Services workers, will receive vaccine in first phase.
 
Two vaccines -- Oxford COVID vaccine Covishield manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and indigenously developed Covaxin by the Bharat Biotech -- will be administered to priority groups. Till now, the Central government has procured 1.1 crore Covishield and 55 lakh Covaxin vaccines at a cost of Rs 200 and Rs 206 per dose, respectively.
 
The COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-WIN) system, a digital platform, will be used to track the enlisted beneficiaries on a real-time basis. Minister Modi will launch the app on Saturday.
 
The platform enables national and State administrators to view and sort the data of the beneficiaries as per their gender, age and comorbidity. They can also view the metadata of vaccination and the Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) reported from the constituent districts. At the vaccination site, only pre-registered beneficiaries will be vaccinated as per prioritisation, and there will be no provision for on-the-spot registrations. A dedicated 24x7 hotline - 1075 - has also been set up to address questions related to the vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN app.
 
Beginning of end of COVID-19: Vardhan: A DAY before a massive countrywide vaccination drive against coronavirus is set to commence, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said that the step is “probably the beginning of the end” of COVID-19.
 
Speaking at the 146th India Meteorological Department (IMD) foundation day, he, however, cautioned that even if the vaccination drive is on, there should not be lowering of guard and people must follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. “Tomorrow is an important day. It is the last phase of the battle against coronavirus. I say, this is probably the beginning of the end of COVID now which is going to start tomorrow,” Vardhan, who is also Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister, said.
 
Later in the day, the Minister reviewed preparations for the launch of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive scheduled to begin on January 16 and visited the dedicated COVID control room set up at the Nirman Bhawan premises of the Health Ministry. Speaking there, Vardhan said India’s exercise to vaccinate its population against COVID-19 shall be the largest immunisation drive of the world. He reiterated that both the indigenously manufactured vaccines, Covishield by SII and COVAXIN of Bharat Biotech, have proven safety and immunogenicity records and are the most important tools to contain the pandemic. , the statement said. During his visit to the COVID control room, Vardhan minutely scrutinised each aspect of the working of Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by the Health Ministry which will be used to drive the vaccination programme.