Covid Vaccine Rollout: PM Modi warns against politicians jumping vaccine queue

New Delhi, Jan 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that public representatives do not jump queues and take vaccines ahead of other citizens but wait for their turn for the shot.

Public representatives are not part of the three-crore corona warriors and frontline workers to be vaccinated first, Modi said while nteracting with chief ministers of all states to discuss the COVID-19 situation and the vaccination roll-out in the country.

In the first phase, the cost of vaccination for these 3 crore people would be borne by the central government, he added.

The Prime Minister's statement comes days after the Haryana government's request to include public representatives like MPs and MLAs to be included in the list for vaccination in the first phase.

The two approved COVID-19 vaccines in India more cost-effective than other vaccines in the world and have been developed as per our needs and situation, he said.

India is entering a decisive phase of vaccination in the fight against COVID-19, he asserted, pointing that the world''s largest vaccination programme will start from January 16.

India''s drugs regulator has approved Oxford vaccine Covishield, being manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country.

On Saturday last week, Modi had reviewed the status of COVID-19 and vaccine preparedness across states and union territories at a high-level meeting where.

with PTI inputs