Ahead of the pan-India COVID-19 inoculation drive which is all set to begin from January 16, the Centre has on Thursday issued a list of dos and don'ts for vaccination.
Here is a full list of guidelines issued by the Centre:
1. Vaccination is allowed only for those who are above the age of 18 years.
2. Women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy should not receive the vaccine.
3. Lactating mothers should not receive the vaccine.
4. Interchangeability of vaccine is not permitted i.e, the second dose of the vaccine should also be of the same vaccine manufacturer as the first.
5. The second does of vaccine should be administered at a gap of 28 days from the first.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India's COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16 via video conferencing and adequate doses of the two made-in-India vaccines have been delivered to all states and Union Territories, the government said on Thursday.
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 Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
Prime Minister Modi will launch the pan-India rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16 at 10:30 AM via video conferencing, the PMO said.
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 said.
The PMO statement said the vaccination programme is based on principles of priority groups to be vaccinated first. Healthcare workers, both in the government and private sectors, including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) workers, will receive the vaccine during this phase.
According to the government, the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.
Cost of vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers will be borne by the central government.
(With PTI inputs)
