Photos: India begins its Covid-19 vaccination drive

India, which has the highest number of Covid-19 cases after the United States, began to vaccinate its population, starting with around 300 million people aimed to be inoculated in the first six to eight months of the year. Some 30 million healthcare and other frontline workers are first in line in the program which began today using the Covishield and Covaxin shots, followed by about 270 million people older than 50 or deemed high-risk because of pre-existing medical conditions. ...read more

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Marking its feat in the history of disease outbreaks, India on January 16 started the world's largest Covid-19 vaccination drive where it will see the administration of the drug in 300,000 million healthcare workers.(Amal KS / HT Photo)

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A nurse (R), performs rituals to a box containing Covid-19 vaccines upon its arrival at a government Hospital in Ahmedabad on January 16. Marking its feat in the history of disease outbreaks, India on January 16 started the world's largest Covid-19 vaccination drive where it will see the administration of the drug in 300,000 million healthcare workers.(Ajit Solanki / AP Photo)

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A staff member of the Rajawadi Hospital holds the first token to be given to a health worker to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Mumbai on January 16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the program with a speech addressing more than 3,000 centres across India, where the first shots were to be given.(Indranil Mukherjee / AFP)

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A medical worker displays a Covishield vaccine vial at the government Rajaji hospital in Madurai on January 16. The inoculation campaign across the world’s second-most populous country will showcase whether Covid-19 can be swiftly tamed in nations with disjointed health and transportation networks.( Arun Sankar / AFP)

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Medical workers wait to be inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine at a hospital in New Delhi on January 16. The inoculation of the health workers will be followed by about 270 million people who fall in this high-risk category because they are older than 50 or deemed high-risk because of pre-existing medical conditions.( Jewel Samad / AFP)

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A health worker administers the Covishield vaccine to a woman at a vaccine delivery site in Gurugram on January 16. On the first day, around 300,000 people were set to be vaccinated at 3,000 centres. About 150,000 staff in 700 districts have been trained to administer jabs and keep records.(Sanjeev Verma / HT Photo)

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A medical worker in an observation room after receiving a dose of the Covishield vaccine at SMS Medical College in Jaipur on January 16. The government has already bought 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covishield shot, produced by the Serum Institute of India, and 5.5 million of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.(Himanshu Vyas / HT Photo)

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A health worker gestures as she gets her photograph taken next to a Covid-19 vaccination banner at a hospital in New Delhi on January 16. Covishield is 72% effective, according to the Indian drug regulator, while Bharat Biotech says Covaxin’s last-stage trial results are expected by March. The government aims to manage the entire process digitally with its own app, CoWIN, which will link every vaccine dose to its recipient.(Manish Swarup / AP)