Elected representatives, including PM Modi, may receive COVID-19 vaccines in second round

Elected representatives over the age of 50 are expected to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the second phase of India’s mass inoculation drive after over three crore healthcare and frontline workers are covered in the first round, reported PTI.

Along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, most of his Cabinet ministers, including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari, many chief ministers and top political leaders besides MPs and MLAs fall in this section.

However, there is no specific timeline for the vaccination of top politicians, PTI quoted sources.

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In his interaction with chief ministers before the nationwide rollout of the vaccination programme, Modi had asked politicians to wait till the first round of inoculation concludes.

The prime minister had also said that citizens over the age of 50 besides those younger but living with comorbidities will come after that, sources said.

The government has aimed to vaccinate people in the first phase by July this year.

The vaccination programme was launched on January 16.