India’s Ministry of Health has sent states and union territories (UTs) guidelines on how to manage the massive challenge for distributing the vaccine across the seventh-largest country in the world with the second-largest population.
The guidelines dictate that no more than 100 people can be present during a session at each site per day. However, the centre noted that the number of people per session may be increased 200 — if the supporting logistics are present.
“Conduct of the vaccination process [will be] similar to the election process,” said the government’s draft standard operating procedure (SOP) document. People who are above the age of 50 will be identified using the Lok Sabha voter list.
Phase 1 of the Indian government’s plan for vaccine distribution:
- Priority 1: Health care workers - 1 crore
- Priority 2: Frontline workers - 2 crore
- Priority 3: People above 50 years of age - 26 crore
- Priority 4: People below 50 years of age with chronic illness - 1 crore
"The beneficiaries will be tracked through a digital platform called Co-WIN. All information on this platform will be updated in real-time," explained the document.