New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches one of the world’s mega Covid-19 vaccination programs on Saturday at 10.30 am virtually throughout the country. Speaking on the occasion Modi said the Government has an aim to provide vaccine to 300 million people.
PM said “There are over 100 countries with populations of less than 30 million, and India is administering vaccinations to that many people in the first phase only. In the second phase, we’ll take this number to 300 million”.

The first phase will target some 30 million health care and frontline workers, followed by 270 million others who are either over 50 or have serious underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the disease.

Launch of the #LargestVaccineDrive. Let us defeat COVID-19. https://t.co/FE0TBn4P8I

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 16, 2021

The first dose was administered to a health worker at AIIMS, soon after Modi launched the campaign. The vaccines were manufactured in India, one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, the other by Bharat Biotech with the country’s top clinical research body. Health workers, people over 50 and those deemed at high-risk are prioritized to receive one of the two approved vaccines.
As per the Union Health Ministry’s data updated on Saturday, India’s Covid-19 caseload rose to 1, 05, 42, 841 with 15,158 people testing positive for the infection in a day, while the recoveries have surged to 1, 01, 79, 715. The country’s deaths increased to 1, 52,093 with 175 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.