Covid-19 vaccine will work as 'sanjeevani': Union health minister Harsh Vardhan

Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide vaccination drive on Saturday, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said the vaccine will work as a 'sanjeevani' in the fight against coronavirus (Covid-19) disease.

"I am very happy and satisfied today. We have been fighting against Covid-19 under PM Modi's leadership for the last one year. With help of doctors and scientists, we have an Indian vaccine now, this vaccine will work as a 'sanjeevani' in the fight against Covid-19, which has entered the final stage," he said.

The minister was speaking after witnessing the administration of the first coronavirus shot to a sanitation worker at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

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"I want to congratulate all frontline workers on this day. At times when rumours are being spread, I hope the media will spread the correct information and this move will help in the fight against the disease," he said, adding that the scientists and experts have put their "heart and soul into it." 

The nationwide vaccination drive, said to be the world's largest vaccination programme, was launched after the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave nod for the emergency use of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines.

Covishield is developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University in collaboration with Pune's Serum Institute of India for the country and Covaxin is developed by Hyderabad's Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology. Two rounds of mock drives, one on January 2 and the other on January 8, were held across the nation before the drive was launched.