India may start inoculating people for COVID-19 in January, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan told ANI. The Minister said the government’s top priorities are safety and the effectiveness of vaccines.

“We don’t want to compromise on that,” he told ANI.

“I personally feel, maybe in any week of January, we can be in a position to give the first COVID vaccine shot to people of India,” the Health Minister told the news agency.

Also read: We will inoculate 30 crore people against COVID-19 by August 2021, says Harsh Vardhan

There are several vaccine candidates undergoing clinical trials in India. These include vaccines developed by British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, Russian vaccine Sputnik V and India’s indigenous vaccine candidate Covaxin.

He said after consultation with experts, the government has prioritised 30 crore people for the vaccine. 

“It includes health workers, frontline workers like police, military and sanitation staff, people above 50 years and those who are below 50 years but are suffering from certain diseases,” Harsh Vardhan told ANI.

He said the government will address the issue of vaccine hesitancy, but it will not force anyone who doesn’t want to take the vaccine. 

“I feel that worst may probably be over,” the Minister said, before cautioning that COVID-19 protocols should be strictly followed. The ultimate tool against the virus will be masks, hand hygiene  and social distancing, Harsh Vardhan said.

Iterating the steps taken by the government to handle the coronavirus situation, the Minister told ANI that the Centre along with state governments had been making preparations at state, district and block levels for the past four months.

“We’ve formed task forces at state, district and block levels. Thousands of master trainers have been trained across the country,” Harsh Vardhan said.

“We’ve conducted training at state level and trained over 20,0 00 workers in about 260 districts,” he added.

India recorded its first case of COVID-19 on January 30. It has now emerged as the second-worst hit nation by the coronavirus pandemic.

Also read: India has one of the highest COVID-19 recovery rates in the world: Health Minister

The country has recorded over 10 million virus cases and 145,477 deaths, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data.