India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive begins. All you need to know | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive begins. All you need to know

Byhindustantimes.com | Edited by Shankhyaneel Sarkar, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
Jan 16, 2021 11:37 PM IST

The health ministry on Saturday said that close to 200,000 people were vaccinated on Day 1 of the drive.

India launched its Covid-19 vaccination programme on Saturday in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease in the country. An upbeat mood was seen across the country’s hospitals and other facilities where healthcare and frontline workers received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccines. India had granted emergency authorization to Serum Institute of India’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin earlier in January.

A nurse prepares a syringe with COVID-19 vaccine at District Hospital in Ukhrul, in Manipur, (AP Photo)(AP)
A nurse prepares a syringe with COVID-19 vaccine at District Hospital in Ukhrul, in Manipur, (AP Photo)(AP)

The health ministry on Saturday said that close to 200,000 people were vaccinated on Day 1 of the drive. In the next five days, the Union health ministry and the health ministries of several states will aim to inoculate more than 30 million healthcare workers across the country.

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The first recipients of the coronavirus vaccine across India, which has lost more than 150,000 lives in its fight against Covid-19, were greeted with bouquets of flowers and packets of sweets.

Here is how the nation kicked off its Covid-19 vaccine drive:

  • A 34-year-old sanitation worker, Manish Kumar, was the first recipient of the coronavirus vaccine shot in Delhi. He received his shot at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
  • Arunachal Pradesh inoculated 829 frontline workers on Day 1 of the vaccination drive.
  • Union health minister Harsh Vardhan called the two vaccines ‘sanjeevani’ and said that these two vaccines helped the nation to reach a decisive phase in the battle against Covid-19
  • A 40-year old staff nurse Manjula, who works at a government hospital in Proddatur town in Kadapa district, was the first to receive the vaccine in Andhra Pradesh. The state inoculated 18,412 people on the first day of vaccination drive.
  • Dr Milan Kumar Laskar was the first recipient of the coronavirus vaccine in Assam. Assam chief minister Sarabananda Sonowal launched the coronavirus vaccination drive at the Assam Medical College Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh. The state inoculated 3,528 people on day 1 of the vaccination drive.
  • Bihar was among the states where recipients were administered both Covishield and Covaxin vaccines. 18,169 people were vaccinated in Bihar on the first day of the vaccination drive.
  • Tulsa Tandi was the first recipient of the Covid-19 vaccine in Chhattisgarh. The 51-year-old woman, who works as a sanitation worker in Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial Hospital in Raipur ,was administered the Covishield vaccine at the local Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College.
  • Goa’s health department said that it vaccinated 426 beneficiaries out of 700.
  • Ashokbhai, a frontline worker who drives a medical van, was among the first recipients of the coronavirus vaccine in Gujarat. Chief minister Vijay Rupani and deputy chief minister Nitin Patel launched the state’s Covid-19 vaccination drive on Saturday at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.
  • Covid-19 vaccination drive was conducted across 100 sites in Haryana and Punjab on Day 1 of the vaccination campaign. A sanitary worker named Arun was the first to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Chandigarh.
  • Himachal Pradesh achieved 61% of its immunization target on the first day of vaccination drive. The chief minister Jai Ram Thakur kicked off the campaign at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) on Saturday. The state inoculated 1,536 healthcare workers.
  • Ranchi Sadar Hospital worker Mariyam Gudiya was the first to receive Covid-19 vaccine in the state. Officials said 3,096 beneficiaries received the first dose of the vaccine on Saturday.
  • Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar said that the state has achieved 62% of its vaccination target on Saturday.
  • Kerala health minister KK Shailaja said that the state has vaccinated more than 8,000 people on Saturday. She also highlighted that the Palakkad district recorded the most number of vaccinations.
  • AIIMS director Randeep Guleria, NITI Aayog member VK Paul, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla, West Bengal minister Nirmal Maji, BJP MP Mahesh Sharma, Apollo Hospitals Group chairman Dr Prathap C Reddy and chairman of Manipal Hospitals Sudarshan Ballal were among the high profile personalities to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.
  • More than 3,000 military medical workers also received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Saturday.
  • Odisha and Maharashtra have decided to halt the Covid-19 vaccination drive. Odisha’s additional health secretary said that the state wants to observe the beneficiaries for a day and will resume the drive on Monday. Maharashtra had to halt the drive due to glitches in the Co-WIN app.
  • Few cases of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) were recorded in Delhi and Telangana.
  • Delhi recorded 52 cases of adverse events following the immunisation, a Delhi health government official said. The official said only one case of severe adverse event was recorded and the rest of the 51 cases were mild in nature.

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