72 % of targeted 3182 health care workers inoculated with Covishield vaccine at 34 hospitals on the first day.
Vaccine completely safe; avoid any negative publicity about the vaccination- CM Rawat
A massive vaccination drive against the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) started in Uttarakhand on Saturday. On the first day a total of 2276 health care workers were inoculated with the Covishield, the vaccine developed by Oxford University- AstraZeneca and manufactured in India by Serum Institute of India (SII). The health department had organised a total of 34 vaccination sessions in different hospitals of the state and had planned to vaccinate 3182 health care workers on the first day. The department claimed that 72 percent vaccination target was achieved on the first day.
The chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat formally inaugurated the vaccination drive in the state at 10.30 am at Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) hospital. The first vaccine jab was administered to the ward boy of GDMC hospital, Shailendra Diwedi and the second person to get inoculated in the hospital was the Head of Department (HoD) of chest and TB and Covid-19 in charge, Dr Anurag Agarwal.
Addressing media persons on the occasion, the CM said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started the biggest vaccination drive in the world and it would help in containing the menace of the disease to a large extent. He appealed that the people should avoid believing any negative publicity about the vaccination because the vaccine is completely safe. Terming the vaccine as an effective method of preventing the disease, the CM said that everyone should continue to follow the safety measures for Covid-19 like washing hands, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. “By following the mantra of Dawai Bhi Kadai Bhi we can remain safe from the disease,’’ he said.
The Mayor of Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) Sunil Uniyal Gama, Rajpur MLA Khajan Das, Health Secretary Amit Singh Negi, secretary in-charge Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Director General (DG) state health services, Dr Amita Upreti, Vice Chancellor (VC) of Uttarakhand Medical University Dr H C Pandey, the Principal of GDMC, Dr Ashutosh Sayana and other senior officers of state health department were present on the occasion.
A total of 34 vaccination sessions were organised in the state on the day. Five sessions were held in Dehradun district while Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar had four such sessions each. Three sessions were organised in Nainital while the remaining nine districts had two vaccination sessions each.
Sunday, 17 January 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
