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President Ram Nath Kovind, PM Modi And Other Ministers Lead By Example, Take COVID-19 Vaccine Shots

The second phase of COVID-19 vaccination in India began on March 1; leaders took the first jab, set an example for others
Ministers Lead By Example, Take Vaccine Shots As India Begins Phase 2 Of Coronavirus Vaccination
Highlights
  • PM Modi took the COVID-19 vaccine shot at Delhi’s AIIMS
  • Chief Minister of Odisha and Bihar also took the first dose of the vaccine
  • Ministers urged eligible beneficiaries to get vaccinated against COVID-19

New Delhi: The second phase of India’s Coronavirus vaccination drive which according to the government is the world’s largest vaccination drive began on March 1 at 9 AM. PM Narendra Modi became the first beneficiary as he took the jab early in the morning today. On Day 1, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Ministers of Odisha and Bihar and Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu also took the COVID-19 vaccine shot, setting an example for other eligible beneficiaries – people over 60 and people above the age of 45 with comorbidities. On Day 2, other ministers like Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union Minister of Minority Affairs, Ajay Maken, General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and others got vaccinated. On Day 3, President Ram Nath Kovind, Chief Ministers of Kerala and Goa, among others took the vaccine jab. In the coming days, the vaccination drive is expected to expand more.

Also Read: “COVID-19 Pandemic Has Taught Us An Important Lesson,” Says Prime Minister Narendra Modi

On March 11, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and appealed to the citizens to get themselves vaccinated without any hesitation and fear. Sharing the news on social media, CM Thackeray said, “There is no need for anyone to have any fear or confusion about the COVID vaccine. I have just been vaccinated and I am standing right in front of you. So, it is my humble appeal to all my citizens who are eligible for vaccination to go get it without any doubt in their minds.”

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday (March 5) at Sawai Man Singh hospital in Jaipur. CM Gehlot shared a short video from the vaccination drive and asked people to not be afraid of getting the jab. He called the vaccine safe and asked people to take the shot when their turn comes.

Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar also got the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine on March 5 at  Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune. Mr Javadekar called the vaccination process ‘easy’ and vaccines ‘safe’. He said, “vaccination is the protective shield.”

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and urged all eligible citizens to follow the suit. CM Singh reflected hope in defeating COVID-19 with citizen participation.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with his parents took the COVID-19 vaccine shot at Delhi’s Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Hospital on March 4. The trio was administered Covishield. Mr Kejriwal shared a small video from the vaccination drive on social media and said, “we did not face any kind of problem.”

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman too got her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on March 4. Ms Sitharaman shared a picture on social media and thanked sister Ramya PC for taking care of her during vaccination.

President Ram Nath Kovind was administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Army Research and Referral Hospital on Tuesday (March 3). According to tweets on his official handle, the President thanked healthcare workers and administration for successfully implementing the vaccination programme and urged all eligible citizens to get vaccinated.

Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan also took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on March 3 and urged everyone to overcome the pandemic through scientific methods.

Also Read: COVID-19: WHO Chief Scientist Says India Exhibited Capacity To Innovate, Manufacture Vaccines

Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant took the first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine at a Primary Health Center (PHC) in Sanquelim. He too appealed to all eligible people to come forward and get themselves vaccinated.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan along with his wife Nutan Goel took the COVID-19 vaccine shot at Delhi Heart and Lung Institute on Tuesday (March 2) morning. After vaccination, as per the protocol, the couple sat in the hospital premises for half an hour to look out for any Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI). In a media briefing, Dr Vardhan informed that the duo took the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin and confirmed that he and his wife have not witnessed any AEFI and urged other eligible beneficiaries to take the jab.

While talking to the media, Dr Vardhan said,

The COVID-19 vaccine will work as ‘sanjeevani’ in India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. People who can afford the vaccine jab should visit any nearest private vaccination centre and take the shot.

Dr Vardhan reiterated COVID appropriate behaviour – wearing a face mask, handwashing with soap and maintaining physical distance – and asked people to not let their guards down even after getting vaccinated. He introduced ‘vaccine appropriate behaviour’ and appealed to the citizens to get vaccinated at the earliest and take the second dose of the vaccine as per schedule.

Also Read: COVID-19 Explained: Here’s How You Can Register For The COVID-19 Vaccine On The CoWIN Portal

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Union Minister of Minority Affairs also got vaccinated. He took the first dose at Dalmiya Hospital in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. Mr Naqvi called the made in India COVID-19 vaccines ‘absolutely safe’ and urged others to get vaccinated and ‘make India Corona free.’

“Be afraid of COVID, not of vaccination”, wrote Ajay Maken, General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), as he shared the news of him and his family taking the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine. Mr Maken along with his wife, mother and mother-in-law got vaccinated at Guru Gobind Singh Hospital.

National Conference (NC) president and Member of Parliament Farooq Abdullah was administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar. His son and Vice President of Jammu Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) Omar Abdullah shared a picture of Farooq Abdullah getting vaccinated. He captioned the photograph as, “Thank you to the doctors, nurses and staff at SKIMS, Srinagar. Today my 85-year-old father and my mother had their first COVID jab. My father has a number of health issues including being on immunosuppressants for a kidney transplant. If he can get the vaccine, you should as well.”

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja too took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the government medical college hospital. The 64-year-old minister later appealed to everyone to take part in the government programme. Besides KK Shailaja, her cabinet colleague E Chandrasekharan also received the jab from the same hospital, reported PTI.

തിരുവനന്തപുരം മെഡിക്കല്‍ കോളേജിലെ കോവിഡ്-19 വാക്‌സിനേഷന്‍ കേന്ദ്രത്തില്‍ നിന്നും കോവിഡ് വാക്‌സിന്‍ സ്വീകരിച്ചു. ഇതുവരെ…

Posted by K K Shailaja Teacher on Tuesday, 2 March 2021

 

As per news agency ANI, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday (March 1) took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. He was vaccinated by Medanta Hospital doctors.

Sharing the news on social media, Mr Naidu informed that he got the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine at Government Medical College in Chennai today. He further appealed to people to join the fight against Novel Coronavirus and get themselves vaccinated.

Mr Naidu shared his pictures from the vaccination drive and wrote, “I will be taking the 2nd dose after 28 days. I appeal to all the eligible people to get themselves vaccinated proactively and join in the fight against novel coronavirus.”

Also Read: News Of COVID-19 Vaccination For Senior Citizens And Comorbid Patients Above 45, Brings A Ray Of Hope For Many

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is also the president of Biju Janata Dal, took the vaccine shot at the Vidhan Sabha dispensary this morning, news agency PTI reported quoting officials. CM Patnaik thanked the scientists for introducing a vaccine against the COVID-19 disease in a record time and helping the world fight the pandemic. CM Patnaik also shared his picture from the vaccination centre and urged people to get inoculated.

Elated CM Patnaik too to social media and captioned his picture as, “Happy to share that I took my first dose of #COVID19 vaccine today. Grateful to our scientists, health workers for their race against time to deliver the vaccines to people. Appeal to all eligible people to come forward and get vaccinated for a #CovidFreeOdisha.”

Also Read: Who All Above The Age Of 45 Are Eligible For COVID-19 Vaccine? Here’s All You Need To Know

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also took the vaccine jab at a health centre in state capital Patna. CM Nitish Kumar announced that the people of the state will get vaccinated against COVID-19 for free in all private and government hospitals.

Vaccination will be absolutely free in the entire Bihar state. Such facility will be made available even at private hospitals, it will be facilitated by the state government, said CM Nitish Kumar, as quoted by a news agency PTI.

Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India also took the indigenous COVD-19 vaccine Covaxin and said he feels secure now and will travel safely.

Also Read: COVID-19 Vaccines And Dosage: WHO’s Soumya Swaminathan Answers FAQs On Vaccines

Among the top leaders, NCP chief Sharad Pawar took the first dose of the COVID–19 vaccine at JJ Hospital in Mumbai.

Earlier today, PM Modi informed that he took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Delhi’s AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences). PM Modi addressed vaccine hesitancy by taking a shot of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Also Read: ‘Let Us Make India COVID-19 Free’, Says PM Modi After Taking First Shot Of Coronavirus Vaccine

India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive was launched on January 16 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the first phase of the drive, India aimed to inoculate 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers but due to vaccine hesitancy, it has been able to administer over 1.43 crore vaccinate doses (as on March 1, 8 AM).

The second phase of the vaccination drive began on March 1 at 9 AM and the government hopes to vaccinate 30 crore people by August. The second phase of the drive will cover people over 60 and people above the age of 45 with comorbidities. The centre has specified 20 comorbidities among people between 45 and 59 years who will get the vaccine.

The central government has also involved private hospitals in the second phase of the vaccination. While the vaccination is free at government hospitals, beneficiaries will have to pay Rs. 250 per dose at private vaccination centres. Eligible beneficiaries can register themselves through www.cowin.gov.in and the Aarogya Setu app and there will be walk-in vaccinations in some places as well. The second phase of the drive allows beneficiaries to choose from either of the two COVID-19 vaccines currently available.

India has given emergency use license to two COVID-19 vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield which is being manufactured by Serum Institute of India in Pune and Bharat Biotech-ICMR’s Covaxin.

Also Read: Coronavirus Explained: All About The Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine, Covishield

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. 

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