Vaccination: 58 pc covered on day 1 in Pune, 71 refuse

Pune district health authoritiesmanaged to vaccinate 58 per cent of registered beneficiarieson Saturday, the first day of the COVID-19 inoculation drive,with nine of them showing ''minor side effects'', and 71refusing to turn up, an official said.

The drive kicked off at 31 sites in the district,eight each in Pune municipal and Pimpri Chinchwad municipalcorporations and 15 in Pune rural, and the target was tovaccinate 3,100 registered health care workers, he said.

''A total of 1,802 out of 3,100, or around 58 per cent,were vaccinated. Barring nine incidents of minor side effects,no major adverse side effect was reported in the district, Ofthe 1,288 who did not turn up, 71 refused,'' said an officialfrom the district administration.

Dr Nitin Abhyankar, among the first to get vaccinatedin Kamla Nehru Hospital in Pune city, said he was proud ofbeing part of this fight against the pandemic.

Dr Nitin Satav, a physician from a city hospital, saideveryone should come forward to take the vaccine, while DrKiran Mahankale, who contracted COVID-19 in September andrecovered, said health care workers must take the shots as itwould protect them while treating patients.

Dr Murlidhar Tambe, Superintendent, Sassoon GeneralHospital, one of the 31 vaccine centres in Pune, wasamong thefirst beneficiaries.

''Till 1 pm, 37 beneficiaries, including doctors, havebeen given Covishield at Sassoon,'' he said.

Rajesh Karyakarte, head, Department of MicrobiologyatB J Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital, whotooreceived the jab, said vaccination is the only solutiontodevelop ''herd immunity''.

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