COVID-19 vaccination drive begins in Uttarakhand, over 2,000 get the shots on first day

Vaccination against COVID-19 began in Uttarakhand on Saturday, with over 2,000 healthcare workers, the foremost warriors in the battle against the pandemic, getting the first shots of the vaccine on the opening day of the inoculation exercise.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi had virtually launched the programme, the first vaccine shot was given to Doon Medical College's ward boy Shailendra Dwiwedi and the second to the HoD of cardiology department and COVID in-charge of the hospital Anurag Aggrawal in the presence of Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Mission Director NHM Sonika said a total of 2,226 healthcare workers were administered the doses on the opening day, which is 70 per cent of the targeted beneficiaries registered through the CoWIN portal.

On all 34 centres where vaccination sessions were conducted, the process began on time following the operational guidelines, state COVID control room Chief Operation Officer Abhishek Tripathi said.

Thirty-two out of the 34 healthcare facilities where the vaccination exercise got underway were government hospitals, including AIIMS, Rishikesh and Rishikul Ayurvedic University.

Two private hospitals Himalayan Medical College and Guru Ram Rai Medical College are also among them.

Vaccination took place at five centres in Dehradun district, four each in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts, three in Nainital and two each in the remaining nine districts.

The first consignment of 1,13000 vaccine doses are to be administered to 50,000 healthcare workers in the first phase of the inoculation exercise, the chief minister said.

After the first phase, frontline workers, people over 50 years and those with co-morbidities will be vaccinated, Rawat said.

He asked people not to lower their guard as they had now got the vaccine, saying mask wearing and social distancing must continue.

''The antibodies begin to form two weeks after the second dose which is administered on the 28th day after the first. You must show patience and wait for at least one and a half months,'' the chief minister said.

Describing the vaccine as safe, the chief minister said there was no adverse report from anywhere about it during its clinical trials conducted in three stages. ''You shouldn't pay heed to the rumours and follow what the experts and scientists say,'' Rawat said.

He thanked healthcare workers for putting aside their basic personal needs to make themselves available to take care of the infected people and controlling the spread of the pandemic.

Rawat also praised the media for its role in spreading awareness about the vaccine.

Dehradun Mayor Sunil Uniyal Gama, MLA Khajan Das, Health Secretary Amit Negi and DG Health Amita Upreti were also present when the first vaccine shots were administered to healthcare workers at the newly built OPD of the Doon Hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)