30 crore people to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in India's first immunisation drive

For the first immunisation drive against COVID-19 in India, the government has marked 30 crore people who will receive the vaccine.

Around 30 crore Indians will receive the COVID-19 vaccine in India's first major immunisation drive. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed in a press briefing that the government has marked 30 crore people who will obtain the vaccine once the mandatory approvals are acquired.

Among the 30 crore will be 1 crore health workers, 2 crore frontline workers and 27 crore general population. Currently, the Centre is carrying out preliminary activities for disseminating the vaccine. They are co-operating with all states and union territories to make the operation smooth.

As per the Indian Express, India's cold storage capacity is to be expanded from 80,000 litres to 2.03 lakh litres by 15th December 2020. The vaccine authorized by the government will be stored in 35,000 storage centres across India. Currently, the vaccines 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin' are undergoing the third stage of clinical trials. They have also appealed for the emergency authorisation to the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI).

Meanwhile, India's total number of COVID-19 cases is 9.77 million out of which 9.25 million patients have recovered. India's death toll stands at 1,42,000.

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