Covid-19, vaccine ’21

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday launch the world’s biggest Covid vaccination programme in India, covering 300,000 recipients across 3,006 sites in the country on the opening day, according to the official schedule drawn up by the government.

In several parts of the country, eminent persons and doctors will be among the first to take a jab, apart from nurses, sanitation and anganwadi workers, driving home the message that the vaccine is safe.

Modi is expected to address the nation and interact with some of the beneficiaries in various states. According to officials across India, video conferencing arrangements have been made for the interaction and a webcast of the PM’S address would be done at almost all vaccination centres in the country.

Each centre will deploy vaccines from a single manufacturer to avoid mixing of doses in recipients, which is not permitted, said officials involved in the delivery programme that will be launched at 10.30am.

“If you consider a vaccination booth as a single unit then that unit will get vaccine supplies of a

single Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer only. It will be either Covaxin or Covisheld so that there is no mixing of vaccines. As per the current plan, both the doses given to an individual will be from the same manufacturer. This will be to avoid any confusion,” said Dr VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog.

States have been given a free hand to increase the number of session sites, if needed, as a single site cannot administer the vaccine to more than 100 beneficiaries

in a day. District administrators can create additional session sites at any location by entering the pin code, followed by specifying the locality or village, and subsequently assigning a vaccinator.

“We have to engage with people at many levels as part of the confidence building drive with regard to the Covid-19 vaccines. The objective is to assure them about their safety concerns in a scientific manner, put a rest to