After PM Narendra Modi kicked off the national vaccination campaign on Saturday, Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker in Delhi, has become the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccination in India. The injection was given to Manish Kumar at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, while Dr Harsh Vardhan, the Union Health Minister, was also present. Around 100 beneficiaries will receive the first jabs of the two ‘made in India’ Coronavirus vaccines at 3,006 session sites across the nation on the first day of the vaccination campaign.
“Normally, it takes many years to make a vaccine but in such a short span of time, not one, but two ‘Made in India’ vaccines are ready. Meanwhile, the work on other vaccines is progressing at a fast pace. This is a living example of India’s capability and talent. India’s vaccination programme is based on a very important principle that those who are in need of the vaccine will get vaccinated first. Our doctors, nurses, medical & paramedical staff, sanitation workers in hospitals – be it private or hospital are entitled to get vaccinated. This will be done on priority,” the Prime Minister said.
“Such a vaccination drive at such a massive scale was never conducted in history. There are over 100 countries having less than 3 crore population and India is administering vaccination to 3 crore people in the first phase only. In the second phase, we’ve to take this number to 30 crores,” he added.
With population of 1.3 billion people, India has the second-largest case load in the world, while the government has authorized two vaccines, one of which is yet to be completed in clinical trials. The government aims to inoculate around 300 million people by July.
