The much-anticipated inoculation programme against COVID-19 in the country is expected to begin by January 12, government sources said.

"In all likelihood, the Covid immunisation drive is expected to start early next week. Considering the preparations, the roll-out may start on January 11 or latest by January 12," a senior government official inducted in the vaccine distribution programme said.

The sources also informed that the government has started preparing the freight carrying the vaccine vials for transportation to different hubs located across the country. The agencies involved in the vaccine roll-out programme will start dispatching the vaccine vials from Thursday onwards, they added.

"The dispatch is expected to start late on Thursday evening or early in the day on Friday," the officials said.

As per the information received, the vaccines from their manufacturing units will be transported to the central hub in Pune. From there, they will be moved to regional hubs situated at different locations across the country.

Two vaccines -- Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and Covishield by Serum Institute of India -- were approved for emergency use authorisation on January 3.

The government has trained around 1.7 lakh vaccinators and 3 lakh vaccination team members for the process to be followed at the vaccination centres during the inoculation drive, which would include beneficiary verification, vaccination, cold chain and logistics management, bio-medical waste management, Adverse Effect Following Immunisation (AEFI) management and reporting on the Co-WIN software.

(IANS)