NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2021) The first stage of India's vaccination campaign against the coronavirus disease will take up to six months, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the national vaccination drive. The country has opened approximately 3,000 vaccination centers, planning to increase their number to 5,000 by the end of the month and to 12,000 by March. According to the health minister, India is planning to vaccinate 300 million people during its first phase, including frontline medical staff, those over 50 years of age and those with comorbidities.
"We should be able to get vaccines for the 30 crore [300 million] people in the next five-six months," Vardhan told journalists.
India has the second-highest number of COVID-19 infections in the world after the United States, with over 10.5 million cases in total and more than 152,000 fatalities.
