The first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, when available, will be administered to around one crore frontline health workers, official sources said. About 92 per cent of government hospitals and 55 per cent of private hospitals have provided data of the health workers in all states and Union territories.

In order to complete the exercise within the next one week, the Centre has directed states and UTs to step up the process of identifying these workers, including doctors, MBBS students, nurses and ASHA workers.

The government has asked states to work on planning and mapping of sessions of vaccination where, during the first phase, healthcare workers will receive the vaccine. It has also directed them to do a mapping of human resources across departments that can be possibly deployed for vaccination sessions for verification of beneficiaries, crowd management and overall coordination.

According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet chief ministers of states and UTs to discuss the strategy of vaccine distribution, via video conferencing on Tuesday.

"Around 92 per cent of all government hospitals and 55 per cent of all private hospitals from across all states and UTs have provided data. The rest of the details will come in another one week. We have asked the states to accelerate the process," an official source said.

The anti-coronavirus vaccine, once available, would be distributed under a special Civid-19 inoculation programme, using the processes, technology and network of the existing Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). It would run parallel to the UIP.

“The Centre, with the help of state and UT governments, has started the process of identifying around 30 crore priority beneficiaries who would be given vaccine dose in the initial phase”, sources had said.

The government has identified three other categories apart from the one crore health workers. This includes around two crore frontline workers including municipal corporation workers, personnel of the police and armed forces, about 26 crore people aged above 50 and a special category of those below 50 with co-morbidities and requiring specialised care.

Sources had earlier informed that the health ministry’s existing digital platform eVIN, used for the UIP, is being enhanced to ensure Covid-19 vaccine distribution and delivery. Through the platform, messages would be sent to recipients informing the time, date and venue to get the shots and digitally connect them and also track them, sources had earlier said.

“Each person in the immunisation list would be linked with their Aadhar cards to avoid duplication and to track beneficiaries. However, in case a person doesn't have an Aadhar card, a government photo identity can be used,” said the sources.