On a day when the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) gave details about the nationwide vaccination drive which will begin on Saturday, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan took to Twitter to dispel myths about the vaccines.
India's drug regulator has given approval to two vaccines - Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute of India and Covaxin of Bharat Biotech - which will be given to 30 million healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase of the vaccination.
Vardhan answered some questions about the vaccines, saying there is no scientific evidence to prove that they can cause infertility in men or women. In a series of tweets, he also answered questions about side effects and catching Covid-19 even after getting vaccinated.
Vardhan used informative tweets, along with graphics, to allay fears of the people before the vaccination begins.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India's Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 via video conferencing and adequate doses of the two vaccines have been delivered to all states and Union Territories, the government said on Thursday.
{{/usCountry}}Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India's Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 via video conferencing and adequate doses of the two vaccines have been delivered to all states and Union Territories, the government said on Thursday.
{{/usCountry}}This will be the world's largest vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country and all preparations are in place to initiate the programme on the principles of 'Jan Bhagidari', the PMO said in a statement.
A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and UTs will be virtually connected during the launch and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the first day, the statement further said.
The vaccination programme will use Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by the Union Health Ministry, which will facilitate real-time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualised tracking of beneficiaries for Covid-19 vaccine.
This digital platform will assist programme managers across all levels while conducting vaccination sessions, the PMO said.
(With inputs from agencies)