New Delhi, January 2: As India gears up to launch world's largest COVID-19 vaccination drive, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday made it clear that in the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination, free vaccine shall be provided across India to most prioritised beneficiaries. These beneficiaries include one crore healthcare and two crore frontline workers. The Union Health Minister shared of video of him on Twitter saying that apart from the healthcare and frontline workers, the details of how further 27 crore priority beneficiaries are to be vaccinated until July are being finalised. When Will COVID-19 Vaccination Begin in India? Can Active Coronavirus Patients Take the Vaccine? FAQs on COVID-19 Vaccine Answered.

Earlier in the day, Vardhan requested people to not pay heed to the rumours against the much-awaited vaccine. He said that various rumours were also spread during polio immunisation, but people took the vaccine and now India is polio-free. "I want to appeal to people to not believe in any rumors. Our prime criteria in the vaccine trial is the safety and efficacy and nothing will be compromised," Vardhan told reporters after reviewing the dry run at a government hospital. COVID-19 Vaccination FAQs in India: Know Eligibility, Documents Required for Registration and More.

Watch Video: Dr Harsh Vardhan on Who WIll Get the COVID-19 Vaccine first in India:

In December, Vardhan had said that if there are limited vaccines, it is important to prioritise how who will be the first to get it. He said that the first 1 crore people to be vaccinated will be the health workers in the private and public sector, while the next two crores to be vaccinated will be frontline workers, sanitation staff, police, and other frontline workers, followed by people over the age of 50. COVID-19 Vaccination in India: First Coronavirus Vaccine Shot to People Expected in Any Week of January 2021, Says Harsh Vardhan.

A mega vaccination drill is being conducted in all the states and union territories across 259 sites on Saturday to equip the administration in management of vaccine supply, storage and logistics, including cold chain management. The Oxford-Astra zeneca vaccine has been recommended by the expert panel tasked with vetting COVID-19 vaccine proposals and has been forwarded to the Drug Controller General of India for approval. Once approved, the vaccine, which is globally known as AZD1222, will be the first silver bullet for the country, which has witnessed over one crore cases and nearly 1.5 lakh deaths till now.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 02, 2021 01:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).