Covid-19 vaccine will be available in Uttar Pradesh near Makar Sankranti: Yogi Adityanath

Vaccination drive in Uttar Pradesh will begin around Makar Sankranti, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday, a day after the Serum Institute of India's vaccine for Covid-19 was recommended by the government-appointed panel of experts for use, with the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) expected to give the jab its approval shortly.

Adityanath said on Saturday that dry runs for the vaccinations were being conducted in six districts of the state and by January 5 such dry runs were expected to take place across the state with the actual vaccination expected to be rolled out around the festival of Makar Sankranti that is falling on January 14.

Earlier in December, the government had announced that it would set up 35,000 centres for the vaccine and all will be brought under CCTV camera scrutiny. Besides, vaccine carrier vehicles will also have global positioning system (GPS) trackers.


Government spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh on Friday told a news channel that programs already being run for diseases like Japanese Encephalitis, measles and rubella have ensured that there is a standard protocol system in place. Singh also said as against the requirement of 2 lakh litre capacity of cold chain storage in the state, it has prepared a capacity of 2.5 lakh litre which is expected to suffice for the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination.

UP has close to 14,000 active Covid cases currently with 8,379 deaths having taken place across the state. It has recorded a total of 5,64,541 cases so far.