One of the most anticipated vaccination drive is going to “kick off on 16th January 2021.” This is what a latest press release by the Press Information Bureau states. The vaccines will be rolled out after some of the major forthcoming festivals namely Makar Sankranti, Magh Pihu, and Pongal. The decision was taken after a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He reviewed the preparedness of states and UTs for COVID-19 vaccination. He wanted to know how ready we are to begin the vaccination process with safety and without letting any chaos come as a hurdle.
According to the latest information, COVID-19 vaccine will be firstly provided to the people in the priority list that includes “healthcare workers and the frontline workers who are estimated to be around 3 crore, followed by those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities numbering around 27 crore.”
For the smooth inoculation drive, the government has introduced an application called Co-WIN (COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network). this digital platform will help in COVid-19 vaccination delivery management and will track and monitor beneficiaries. “Co-WIN will provide real time information of vaccine stocks, their storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries of the COVID-19 vaccine. This platform will assist the program managers across all levels through automated session allocation for pre-registered beneficiaries, their verification and for generating a digital certificate upon successful completion of the vaccine schedule. More than 79 lakh beneficiaries have been already registered on the platform.”