Don’t fall to propaganda, says Modi
NEW DELHI, Jan 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive while reassuring the country that emergency use authorisation was given to two made in India vaccines only after scientists were convinced of their safety and effectiveness, and urged people to beware of propaganda and rumours.
Addressing the nation ahead of the launch of what he described as the world’s largest vaccination programme, Modi said these vaccines will ensure a “decisive victory” for the country over the coronavirus pandemic, but asked countrymen to continue wearing masks and maintain social distancing even after receiving the jabs.
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Emphasising the enormity of the vaccination drive, which he launched through a remote control amid chanting of Sanskrit shloka that meant ‘let everybody be happy, let everybody be healthy’, Modi said never before in history, has this type of a large-scale vaccination campaign been undertaken.
There are more than 100 countries in the world whose population is less than three crore and India is vaccinating three crore people in its first phase of vaccination, he said.
In the second Phase, the number of those vaccinated has to be taken to 30 crore, Modi said, pointing out that only two countries other than India have a population in excess of 30 crore — the US and China.
The Prime Minister said that those who are elderly, are suffering from serious illness, will get vaccinated in the second stage.
“Dawai bhi, kadai bhi (vaccine also and strict discipline also)” should be the mantra going forward, he said.
“I want to remind people of the country that two doses of the Corona vaccine are very important. Don’t commit the mistake that you take one dose and forget the second one. As experts have been saying, there will be a gap of about one month between the two doses,” Modi said.
He asked people not to let their guard down even after taking the vaccine as only two weeks after taking the second dose, human body will develop necessary immunity against the virus.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier this month approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for the massive inoculation drive.
Modi also reassured the country about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines given approval by India for restricted emergency use.
“I want to tell the people of the country that only when our scientists and experts were convinced about the safety and effectiveness of both the made-in-India vaccines, only then they gave permission for their emergency use. That is why the people of the country should beware of any type of propaganda, rumours and misinformation,” he said.
“Our vaccine scientists, our medical system and the process India follows holds a lot of credibility in the world…We have won this confidence due to our track record,” Modi said.
His remarks come amid apprehensions being raised by opposition leaders, including some senior Congress leaders, about the process of approval to the Bharat Biotech vaccine.
“Indian vaccines compared with foreign vaccines are much cheaper and their use is also very easy. Even one dose of some foreign vaccines costs Rs 5000 and have to be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius, while the Indian vaccines have been made with such technology that is tried and tested,” Modi said.
These vaccines, from storage to transportation, are suited to Indian conditions, he said.
“These (made-in-India) vaccines will ensure a decisive victory for India against coronavirus,” he asserted.
“India begins the world’s Largest Vaccine Drive. This is a day of pride, a celebration of the prowess of our scientists and hardwork of our medical fraternity, nursing staff, police personnel and sanitation workers,” Modi said in a tweet after the launch of the drive.
In his remarks at the launch event, Modi also urged the country to show patience during the vaccination drive as it had shown till now in fighting the pandemic.
Normally, it takes years to make a vaccine but in such a short span of time, not one, but two ‘made in India’ vaccines are ready, Modi said, adding work on other vaccines is also progressing at a fast pace.
India getting two vaccines in such a short time is a testimony to the country’s capability, scientific efficiency and talent, the Prime Minister said.
“Our vaccination programme is driven by humanitarian concerns, those exposed to maximum risk will get priority,” he said.
In its fight against the pandemic, India took right decisions at the right time while keeping a vigil round the clock, he asserted.
On January 30, the first case of coronavirus was found in India, but even more than two weeks before that India had formed a high level committee, he said.
The country had issued its first advisory on January 17 and India was among first few nations that started screening at airports, Modi said emphasising the speed at which India acted to deal with the pandemic.
Modi also talked about evacuation of Indians stuck abroad, saying that at a time when many countries of the world had left their citizens stranded in China, India evacuated not only Indians but citizens of other countries.
The Prime Minister congratulated the countrymen for passing the challenge of discipline and patience during the ‘Janata Curfew’ in March.
He pointed out that the exercise prepared the country psychologically for the lockdown. Morale of the country was kept high with the campaigns like ‘taali-thali’ and lighting of diyas, the Prime Minister added.
Asserting that India’s response to the crisis has been acknowledged globally, Modi said it was an example of the integrated and unified response from centre, states, local governments, government offices, social bodies who performed efficiently in unison.
According to the Government, the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.
Cost of vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers will be borne by the central government. (PTI)
Drive successful, says Health Ministry
Over 1.65 lakh beneficiaries were inoculated with COVID-19 jabs at 3,351 session sites across the country today and no case of post-inoculation hospitalisation has been reported so far, the Government said on the first day of India’s massive vaccination drive against the virus.
The COVID-19 vaccination drive was successfully conducted on the first day, Additional Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Manohar Agnani said during a press briefing.
“A total of 3,351 sessions were held wherein 1,65,714 beneficiaries were vaccinated, as per provisional reports,” he said.
A total of 16,755 personnel were involved in organising the vaccination sessions, Agnani said.
The 11 States and Union Territories where both Covishield and Covaxin were administered were Assam (65 sessions), Bihar (301), Delhi (81), Haryana (77), Karnataka (242), Maharashtra (285), Odisha (161), Rajasthan (167) Tamil Nadu (160), Telangana (14) and Uttar Pradesh (317).
The 1,65,714 beneficiaries included 78 from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 76 from Ladakh, 43 from Daman and Diu, 64 from Dadra And Nagar Haveli, 21 from Lakshadweep, 195 from Chandigarh and 373 from Goa .
Besides, 16,963 were vaccinated in Andhra Pradesh, 16,401 in Bihar, 15,727 in Maharashtra, 4,985 in Chhattisgarh, 8,557 in Gujarat, 743 in Arunachal Pradesh, 2,721 in Assam, 3,403 in Delhi, 4,656 in Haryana and 1,408 in Himachal Pradesh.
More than one crore cases and 1.5 lakh fatalities later, India took its first steps out of the pandemic with shots of the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines being administered at medical centres across the country.
Sanitation worker Manish Kumar became the first recipient of the vaccination drive at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), according to the Health Ministry.
Of the first day beneficiaries, 2,897 were in Jharkhand, 12,637 in Karnataka, 7,206 in Kerala, 6,739 in Madhya Pradesh, 510 in Manipur, 509 in Meghalaya, 314 in Mizoram, 499 in Nagaland, 8,675 in Odisha, 206 in Puducherry, 1,200 in Punjab, 9,279 in Rajasthan, 120 in Sikkim, 2,728 in Tamil Nadu, 3,600 in Telangana, 266 in Tripura, 15,975 in Uttar Pradesh, 2,226 in Uttarakhand and 9,578 in West Bengal. (PTI)
Over 1.6 lakh get first jabs
Over 1.6 lakh healthcare and sanitary workers at the frontline of India’s COVID-19 battle got their first jabs today as Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the world’s largest vaccination drive against the pandemic, showing the light at the end of a 10-month tunnel that upended millions of lives.
More than one crore cases and 1.5 lakh fatalities later, India took its first steps out of the pandemic with shots of the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines being administered at medical centres across the country to a collective sigh of relief that this could finally be the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 trauma.
The Union Health Ministry said that 1,65,714 beneficiaries were inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines till 5.30 PM across India on the first day at 3,351 session sites.
Sanitation worker Manish Kumar became the first recipient of the vaccination drive at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Health Ministry said.
“I had good sleep last night, came here (hospital) in the morning and talked to the other staff who were to get the shot,” the 34-year-old who got a shot of the indigenously developed Covaxin said.
“Many of them were scared. So I went to my seniors and said I should be given the vaccine first. I wanted to prove to my colleagues that there is no need to be scared,” he added as speculation swirled in some quarters about safety levels.
Injecting confidence in the people, several high profile persons, including AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, NITI Aayog member V K Paul, who is also head of an empowered group on medical equipment and management plan to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, Serum Institute of India’s Adar Poonawallah and West Bengal minister Nirmal Maji, also received their first shot of the two-dose vaccine.
Addressing the nation ahead of the launch, the Prime Minister reminded people that two doses of the vaccine are very important and asked them to continue with masks and social distancing even after receiving the jabs.
Reassuring people that emergency use authorisation was given to the two ‘made in India’ vaccines only after scientists were convinced of their safety and effectiveness, he said the vaccines will ensure a decisive victory for the country over the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
“Dawaai bhi, kadaai bhi,” Modi said, asking people to guard against complacency and follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.
“Our vaccination programme is driven by humanitarian concerns, those exposed to maximum risk will get priority,” the Prime Minister said.
He said it normally takes years to make a vaccine but in India two vaccines were ready in a short span of time and work on other vaccines was also progressing at a fast pace.
Paving the way for the massive pan-India inoculation drive, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier this month approved Covishield, from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and the indigenously developed Covaxin from Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use.
Over three lakh healthcare workers are targeted for inoculation on day one at 3,006 sites across all states and union territories.
The shots are first being offered to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.
From the heights of Ladakh to coastal Kerala, across the sprawl that is India, there was an almost festive air at many hospitals and medical centres decorated with flowers, balloons and buntings. Prayers, and sweets too, were offered in several places. One video showed a vaccine box being garlanded as a nurse performed an ‘arti’. (PTI)
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