PM Modi likely to inaugurate Coronavirus vaccination drive virtually on Jan 16

The Prime Minister is also likely to interact with health workers on some locations during the event and the select hospitals at Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi have been asked to make the preparations, according to reports.

In the first phase of the vaccination drive, 30 crore people, including three crore health and frontline workers, followed by high risk groups, mainly people above 50 and people with comorbidities.

According to reports, frontline and healthcare workers of Delhi's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, which is one of the country's biggest Covid hospitals, will be the first to be vaccinated.

Both Covaxin and Covishield, the Oxford University's vaccine made by the SII in India, have been granted permission for an emergency use in the country, which was battered by the deadly virus but now placed in a far better situation.

Bharat Biotech, which had partnered with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), will give 16.5 lakh doses of Covaxin to the central government free of cost.

The government has placed an initial order of 11 million doses of Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), media reports said.

The first 100 million doses of the vaccine will be priced at Rs 200 each, according to a price agreement reached between the government and the Serum Institute of India (SII), said an NDTV report.

According to media reports, the government plans to secure 600 million doses for Covid vaccination drive set to start from January 16.