India will launch one of the most ambitious coronavirus vaccination campaigns in the world next Saturday, with the goal of reaching 300 million people by July, announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The vaccine is to be free of charge for the country’s 1.3 billion population, and Modi said that starting on January 16 would be “a historic step” in fighting the pandemic.
India is the second most affected country in the world – behind the United States – with more than 10 million cases, although the death rate is one of the lowest in the world.
The first phase will target around 30 million health workers and other frontline professionals, including security forces and 270 million people over 50 or at greatest risk due to Covid-19.
The government said it wants to inoculate the first 300 million people by the end of July and has already carried out mass testing of vaccination centers across the country.
Approximately 150,000 employees in 700 districts have been trained and around 290,000 temperature-controlled supply points, 240 walk-in refrigerators, 70 walk-in freezers, 45,000 ice line refrigerators are ready for use.
The government has approved two vaccines – Covishield from AstraZeneca / Oxford University and one produced by the Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech.
The world’s largest vaccine manufacturer in number, the Serum Institute of India (SII), claims to have made about 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca product and aims to increase production to 100 million doses per month by March.
But the Indian government has not yet finalized a purchase agreement with Serum, amid reports of disputes with Serum over the price.
The number of new coronavirus cases reported each day has dropped dramatically in the past few weeks.
But the vaccination campaign’s announcement came after the Ministry of Health said the number of people tested positive for a new virulent strain of coronavirus found in Britain had increased to 90.
India only allowed flights from Britain to resume on Friday, after a 16-day suspension because of the new lineage.
The Delhi regional government has ordered all passengers in Britain to be subjected to 14 days of isolation, even if the test is negative for Covid-19.
Authorities are still trying to track down thousands of passengers who arrived on flights from Britain before the suspension was ordered.
ash / tw / jfx