Coronavirus India Update: 1.65 Lakh Indians Get Vaccinated On Day One
Vaccination Update: Day One
A total of 1.65 lakh Indian citizens received Covid-19 vaccines on the first day of the vaccination drive, according to data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday evening.
The number of personnel involved in the drive stood at 16,755. “No cases of post vaccination hospitalisation has been reported so far, said Manohar Agnani, additional secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Over 16,000 beneficiaries were vaccinated in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar while 15,727 received their vaccine shot in Maharashtra, while the count in Uttar Pradesh stood at 15,975.
Covaxin Concerns
The Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) of the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi on Saturday requested the medical superintendent to vaccinate them with Oxford Covid-19 vaccine ‘Covishield.’
In a letter to the medical superintendent, the association said that the resident doctors were a bit apprehensive about Covaxin and might not participate in the immunisation drive in large numbers, thus defeating the purpose of the exercise which began in the country on Saturday.
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Covaxin Consent Form
Health workers who got their first shots of Covaxin at AIIMS on Saturday were made to sign a consent form that promised compensation in case of a ‘severe adverse event’ related to the vaccine, PTI reported.
Covaxin has demonstrated the ability to produce antibodies against Covid-19 in phase one and phase two trials. “However, the clinical efficacy is yet to be established and it is still being studied in phase 3 clinical trial,” the form read.
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India's Vaccination Campaign Begins
India launched one of the world’s largest coronavirus vaccination drives on Saturday, setting in motion a complex deployment plan aimed at stemming the wide spread of infections across a nation of more than 1.3 billion people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the programme with a speech addressing more than 3,000 centers across India where the first shots were to be given.
“These vaccines will help India win the battle against the virus,” Modi said, adding that Indians should get the shots and not pay heed to any anti-vaccine propaganda.
Watch: Modi Launches India's Vaccination Programme
Key Highlights From Modi's Speech:
- India to vaccinate 3 crore people in the first phase, 30 crore in the second phase.
- Indian government to bear the cost of 30 crore vaccines.
- Don’t stop wearing masks or maintaining social desistance, just because the vaccination campaign has started.
- Taking both doses very important; experts say there should be gap of around one month between the two injections.
- Vaccines approved in India are much cheaper and easier to store and transport than the vaccines approved by many other countries.
- Don’t believe any propaganda or rumours regarding vaccines approved in India.
Mumbai To Start With 12,000 Vaccinations A Day
India’s business and financial hub Mumbai, once the country’s coronavirus hotspot, is building facilities to store 1 crore doses of the vaccine as it aims to open fully from a strict lockdown.
The municipal commission will initially run the vaccination programme at eight centers, which can inject 12,000 people a day. The capacity will rise to 50,000 people daily within a week, subject to availability of vaccines and people’s response.
Key Highlights