Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday that India may be able to start Covid-19 vaccinations as early as January, highlighting the importance of the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.
“I feel, maybe in any week of January, we can be in a position to give first Covid-19 vaccine shot to people of India,” Vardhan told ANI. He added that the government does not want to compromise on the safety of the vaccine.
“The Central government along with state governments has been making preparations at state, district and block levels for the past 4 months,” he said.
#WATCH | Our first priority has been safety & effectiveness of vaccines. We don’t want to compromise on that. I personally feel, maybe in any week of January, we can be in position to give first COVID vaccine shot to people of India: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to ANI pic.twitter.com/PEtMgqptYJ
— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2020
×
“We’ve formed task forces at state, district & block levels. Thousands of master trainers have been trained across the country. We’ve conducted training at state level & trained over 20,0 00 workers in about 260 districts,” he added.
“It was scientifically possible to eradicate polio. Ultimately, coronavirus will also subside & we will come across its sporadic occurrences,” he said.
“After consultation with experts, we’ve prioritized 30 crore people for COVID vaccine. It includes health workers, frontline workers like police, military & sanitation staff, people above 50 yrs & those who are below 50 yrs but are suffering from certain diseases.”
This comes days after India’s total caseload crossed 1 crore. India has the second-highest number of total coronavirus cases after the US, which kick-started vaccinations last week.
(With inputs from agencies)
This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: www.wionews.com
