Harsh Vardhan Says COVID-19 vaccine to be a reality soon; healthcare workers, elderly to get priority in India

COVID-19 vaccines are likely to be a reality soon. Several candidates in the global coronavirus vaccine race have inched closer to regulatory approval in the last few weeks. "Coronavirus vaccine will be available in the next few months and it is estimated that 400-500 million doses will be made available for 25-30 crore people by July-August," said Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday. Vardhan was addressing a webinar organised by the FICCI FLO on 'The Shifting Healthcare Paradigm During and Post-Covid',

Ensuring universal access to a 'safe and effective' vaccine against novel coronavirus will be a challenge. The central government has started preparing a blueprint to roll out the coronavirus vaccine in the country, once it is available.

"It is natural the vaccine distribution would have to be prioritized. As you know the healthcare workers who are corona warriors will be prioritized, then people who are above 65 years of age have been prioritized, then those from 50-65 years of age have been prioritized," Vardhan said.

"Then those below 50 years who have other diseases. It is all being decided by experts with a scientific point of view. We have made a very detailed, meticulous plan on this," he mentioned.

"What we would have to do in March-April next year, we have



started planning for it from now only," Vardhan added.

The Covid vaccine will be dispersed under a unique COVID-19 vaccination program, utilizing the cycles, technology, and network of the current Universal Immunization Program (UIP), official sources had said before. The focal government has just begun the way toward recognizing around 30 crore need recipients. 

Five vaccine applicants are at the various phases of preliminaries in India. Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and Covishield, created by the University of Oxford has just begun the stage III clinical preliminary. ZyCoV-D by Zydus Cadila is in stage II clinical preliminary in the nation. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories will before long beginning stage II clinical preliminaries of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India. 

How COVID-19 vaccine will be dispersed in India:

The health ministry's existing digital platform eVIN for the UIP will be used for the COVID-19 vaccine distribution and delivery. An SMS will be sent to the recipients mentioning the time, date, and venue to get the shots. Each person in the immunization list would be linked with their Aadhaar cards to avoid duplication and to track beneficiaries. However, in case a person does not have an Aadhaar card, a government photo identity proof can be used, sources said.