NEW DELHI: The first phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive will be paid for by the Central government, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. As many as 3 crore frontline workers are scheduled to be vaccinated in the first phase which is scheduled to start January 16 onwards.
Interacting with the chief ministers of all states to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the country, Modi said, public representatives will not be part of the 3 crore corona warriors who will be vaccinated first, Modi said.
This was Modi's first interaction with chief ministers following the recent approval of two coronavirus vaccines for restricted emergency use by India's drug regulator.
India's drugs regulator has approved Oxford vaccine Covishield, being manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country.
Referring to the two, PM Modi said that the two approved
Covid-19 vaccines in India are more cost-effective than foreign vaccines and have been developed as per our needs.
Asserting that India's vaccination programme will be the largest in the world, Modi said that the country will try to vaccinate 30 crore citizens in the next few months in contrast to only 2.5 crore vaccinated globally.
India is working on four more Covid-19 vaccines in addition to the two that have already been approved, said PM.
He also commended the collaboration with which states and Centre worked to address Covid-19 crisis.
"I am satisfied that we worked together by standing united in Covid crisis, quick decisions were taken with full sensitivity. Coordination between Centre, states in fighting Covid-19 was a great example of federalism," he said.
On Saturday last week, Modi had reviewed the status of Covid-19 and vaccine preparedness across states and union territories at a high-level meeting where.
(With inputs from agencies)