Ahead of what is going to be the world's biggest immunization drive, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday made the big promise of making COVID-19 vaccine free for everyone across India. When asked if coronavirus vaccine will be provided free of cost like in Delhi, Dr Harsh Vardhan said "it will be free across the country.
The coronavirus vaccine is slated to be soon rolled out.
The Oxford-AstraZenaca vaccine has been recommended by the expert panel tasked with vetting Covid-19 vaccine proposals and has been forwarded to the Drug Controller General of India for approval.
"The Drug Controller General of India will soon give its recommendation on the applications," assured Vardhan.
Once formalized, the vaccine - globally known as AZD1222 - will be the first silver bullet for the country, which has witnessed over one crore cases and nearly 1.5 lakh deaths till now.
Mega-drill for vaccine drive
A mega-drill is being conducted in all the states and union territories across 259 sites on Saturday to equip the administration in the management of vaccine supply, storage and logistics, including cold chain management.
In Delhi, mock-drives are being conducted at three sites -- government-run Guru Teg Bahadur hospital in Shahdara, primary health centre in Daryaganj, and private Venkateshwara hospital in Dwarka. On December 28 and 29, dry run for the Covid-19 vaccination was conducted in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh; Rajkot and Gandhinagar district of Gujarat; Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar of Punjab and Sonitpur and Nalbari districts of Assam.
(Additional inputs from agency)
