India is a day away from beginning what will be the world’s largest vaccination drive against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), on January 16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the immunisation drive in India, where authorities have given emergency use authorisation (EUA) to two vaccines: Oxford University-AstraZeneca’s Covishield, and Hyderababd-based Bharat Biotech International Limited’s Covaxin. Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) will manufacture Covishield here.
India has the second-highest caseload of Covid-19 in the world, behind the United States. The national tally currently stands at 10,527,683, as per the Union health ministry’s dashboard on Friday. The US, meanwhile, has more than 23 million cases and over 387,000 deaths, as per the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker. Brazil, the third worst-hit country, has a tally exceeding 8.3 million of which more than 207,000 people have lost their lives.