India on Saturday launched a mass vaccine drive against COVID-19. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the campaign via video-conferencing, after which vaccine doses started to be administered across the country.
Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker, became the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine jab at AIIMS, Delhi. AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria too received the first dose. They both received the vaccine, in the presence of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.
India’s drug regulator has granted approval to two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, for their emergency use.
In the first phase, 30 million people, which includes doctors, nurses, paramedic staff, ASHA workers and other frontline personnel, will be inoculated.

PM Narendra Modi virtually launched India’s mass coronavirus vaccine drive on Saturday
A medic shows a Covishield vaccine dose, at District Hospital in Howrah.
Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker, was the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine at AIIMS, Delhi
AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria gets the coronavirus vaccine jab at AIIMS, Delhi.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan shows a dose of Covaxin, the indigenous coronavirus vaccine, developed by Bharat Biotech.
Health workers wait at Max Hospital ahead of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in New Delhi.
A medic administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a frontline worker at Calcutta Medical College in Kolkata.*

A medic administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a frontline worker, at District Hospital in Howrah, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021.
Medic administers COVID-19 vaccine at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar.
A medic interacts with a frontline worker after giving him a COVID-19 vaccine shot, at Max Hospital in New Delhi.