Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with the Chief Ministers ahead of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout to be started from January 16. This will be PM Modi's first meeting with the Chief Ministers after two vaccines Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Pune based-Serum Institute of India's Covishield were cleared for emergency use by the drug regulator DCGI last week.

The Prime Minister in a tweet on Saturday said, "On 16th January, India takes a landmark step forward in fighting COVID-19. Starting that day, India's nation-wide vaccination drive begins. Priority will be given to our brave doctors, healthcare workers, and frontline workers including Safai Karamcharis."

The government has held three coronavirus vaccine dry runs, including two countrywide dry runs, to test the delivery system. CoWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network) app will be used by the center to manage the massive vaccination drive.

CoWIN will track the individual vaccine beneficiaries, more than 79 lakh of whom have been registered on the platform. Priority will be given to 1 crore healthcare workers to be vaccinated first followed by 2 crore frontline workers, like policemen and ITBP personnel.

Twenty-seven crore people, above 50 years of age, and those with co-morbidities, will be next on the priority list.