New Delhi, Jan 16 (UNI) Rolling out the World largest Covid-19 vaccination drive on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India's COVID-19 vaccination campaign is based on very humane principles and the people who need it the most will get the vaccine first.
Noting that this type of large-scale vaccination drive that has never happened in history he said that three crore people will be getting shots of vaccination in its first phase.
"He informed that in the second phase, 30 crore people will be vaccinated. There are only three countries in the world with a population over 300 million - India, China and America", he said while launching the drive via video conference.
Praising the efforts of the scientists who had been involved in making the vaccine against Corona for the past several months, the Prime Minister said with pride that how two ‘Made in India’ vaccines were readied in such a short period.
Remembering the efforts of healthcare workers, Mr Modi said corona warriors remained away from their homes for days to attend to the call of duty. "By reserving the first vaccines for these people, the society is expressing its gratefulness. Our vaccination programme is driven by humanitarian concerns, those exposed to maximum risk get priority," he further said.
While highlighting the need to have two doses of corona vaccine PM Modi said that between the first and second doses, a gap of about one month will be kept. The body will develop the immunity against the corona two weeks after the second dose. He also requested people to continue wearing masks, maintain social distancing even after getting a shot as immunity develops after the second dose.
The first dose of the coronavirus vaccine was administered to a sanitation worker at AIIMS, Delhi in the presence of Union minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.
Ahead of the vaccination drive's launch, Prime Minister said, "In the fight against corona, we have set an example for the world at many steps. When countries left their citizens, stuck in China amidst this pandemic, on their own, India stepped up and evacuated not only Indians but also people of other nations under Vande Bharat mission."
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