Covid-19: ‘Will prioritise 30 cr people, says Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan: The government has prioritised 30 crore people for the vaccine against the coronavirus, assures the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday. 

Vardhan was talking to the news agency as he said that the decision to first vaccinate the 30 crore people has come after deep consultation. “It includes health workers, frontline workers like police, military & sanitation staff, people above 50 yrs & those who are below 50 yrs but are suffering from certain diseases.”

“Our first priority has been the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. We don’t want to compromise on that. I personally feel, maybe in any week of January, we can be in a position to give the first Covid vaccine shot to people of India,” the health minister said. 

He also talked about the voluntary Covid-19 vaccination as he said that vaccination to everyone on the priority list and the issue regarding the hesitancy towards vaccination doses will also be discussed. But the decision to take or not, cannot be forced on people, asserted Vardhan. 

The minister was optimistic about the announcement of the vaccine shots and said that India could get Covid-19 vaccine shot by January. He added that for the government the first priority is the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. 

“I personally feel, maybe in any week of January, we can be in a position to give the first Covid vaccine shot to people of India. Earlier the central government had said that voluntary inoculation can soon be started as it considers the process of emergency authorisation of the Covid-1 vaccine from two other manufacturers“–AstraZeneca and Pfizer.

Another major manufacturer based out of Hyderabad, Bharat Biotech has also applied for emergency approval last month. He announced earlier this month that the government is ready to launch the vaccination drive soon. 

The centre had already said that though vaccination is voluntary, it is advised for people to get the full dose of the vaccine adding that those already affected by the dreaded virus must also get vaccinated as soon as it launches.