Will not force people to get vaccinated: Union Health Minister on govt's plan of COVID-19 vaccine

New Delhi, Dec 21: In what comes as a recent development, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday said that the much-awaited COVID-19 vaccine may be available in India by January next year and that a large workforce is being ready to launch vaccination programme across the country.

During a press conference, the Health Minister also said that the government will make efforts to address various issues among people regarding the vaccine, but if somebody does not want to get vaccinated, the government will not force them.

When asked whether the worst of the pandemic is over, Dr Harsh Vardhan said, "I also think so. We have just about three lakh active cases in the country. Few months back, we had about 10 lakh cases. Of over one crore total cases, over 95 lakh patients have recovered. We have the highest recovery rate in the world."

"I feel that worst may probably be over, but with a strong note of caution. We need to strictly follow COVID appropriate behaviour. We can't afford to relax so major tool against COVID will ultimately be masks, hand hygiene and physical distance," he added.

The Union Health Minister also said that the government's first priority is safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

He confirmed that in "any week" of January, India will be in a position to give COVID-19 vaccine to its people.

Talking about preparations for the vaccination, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the Central government along with state governments has been making preparations at state, district and block levels for the past four months.

"We have formed task forces at state, district and block levels. Thousands of master trainers have been trained across the country. We have conducted training at the state level and trained over 20,000 workers in about 260 districts."

Responding to whether COVID-19 vaccination would be voluntary, he replied, "Our effort is that everyone in our priority list takes COVID vaccine. We will address the issue of vaccine hesitancy. But if anyone decides not to take it, we can't force them."