India News

The regional office of the World Health Organization said India's efforts to vaccinate around three crore people against the coronavirus was the "largest vaccination drive"

Nearly a year after India reported its first case of coronavirus from Kerala, the "start of the end of the pandemic", as Health Minister Harsh Vardhan described it on Friday, began this morning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the nationwide rollout. The government has targeted the vaccination of 1 crore healthcare workers and 2 crore frontline workers in the first phase.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan today appealed to the masses to not pay attention to any rumours against the two vaccines that have been approved for emergency use. Describing the vaccines as "sanjivani (life-saving drugs)", the leader said the country has entered into the decisive phase of the "war against coronavirus".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, launching the country's Covid vaccination drive today, gave a shout-out to frontline workers and appeared emotional as he spoke about those who risked their lives to save lives.

Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla was administered the first dose of the Covishield coronavirus vaccine on Saturday afternoon, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India's nationwide vaccination drive

The nationwide Covid vaccination drive began a little after 11 am Saturday, with a sanitation worker at Delhi's AIIMS the first person in the country to receive a shot. Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to frontline workers and healthcare staff playing key roles in the battle to contain the virus. The Prime Minister also cautioned against spreading rumours about the efficacy of the vaccines and warned people to continue following Covid-appropriate behaviour even after receiving the injections. Over the next few days, weeks and months India will carry out one of the world's largest vaccination drives - around 30 crore people will be inoculated against the novel coronavirus. Two vaccines - Covaxin and Covishield - have been cleared for this purpose.

Resident doctors at one of Delhi's biggest healthcare hubs, the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, today demanded they be administered Covishield vaccine and not Covaxin since the former has completed all three stages of trials as required under protocol. The second one, produced by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, is still only undergoing stage-III trials. The central government has, however, sought to underplay such apprehensions saying "a lot of work" had gone into the development of both products.

Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker at the national capital's AIIMS, on Saturday became the first person in the country to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Two thousands birds will be culled today in two districts of Maharashtra after samples of dead hens from the state's Parbhani and Beed districts, both in the Marathwada region, have tested positive for bird flu, officials said.

COVID-19 vaccination: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive, describing it as "decisive victory" for the country over the coronavirus pandemic.

A 30-year-old man has been arrested from Palghar district of Maharashtra for allegedly killing a woman he was in relationship with and hiding her body in the walls of his flat, police said on Saturday.

As India's vaccination drive began today with Covid shots to health workers, those receiving Bharat Biotech's Covaxin were asked to sign consent forms that assured compensation if any adverse effect was found linked to the vaccine.

More than 50 flights from Delhi were delayed today morning due to dense fog at the airport, officials have said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today cautioned Indians against dropping their guard after taking the first shot of the 2-dose Covid-19 vaccine. "Don't make the mistake of ignoring the second dose," he said, launching India's massive inoculation drive against the pandemic.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched the country's vaccination drive against the coronavirus. Speaking on the occasion, he thanked the scientists for developing the vaccines in less than a year.