Historic Vaccination Drive Begins in India with Inoculation of Frontline Workers

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Jan 16:  As the prime minister Narendra Modi gave the nod at 10.30 A.M. on Saturday, India took its best foot forward in the fight against Covid pandemic launching the mass immunization programme that is expected to enable the countrymen to slowly return to normal lives.

As an emotional prime minister remembered those who lost the battle in the interim period and complimented the scientists and doctors for their relentless war against the virus to find vaccines in the quickest possible time to infuse confidence among the people, India delivered the shots to Corona warriors who remained at the forefront to tend the victims of the virus without fearing for their own lives.

On the first day of the vaccination programme, vaccine shots were given at 3,006 sessions site across the country and despite shortage of tine, each site completed the target of vaccinating 100 persons a day, the reports received from various centres said.

As decided by the government, the first recipients of the vaccine were medical staff who have to deal with the Corona patients on a regular basis and at least in two centres including one in Delhi and another in Chandigarh, the first recipients were sanitation workers in Covid special hospitals and are exposed to the virus as much as the doctors attending the patients.

Giving green signal to the world’s biggest inoculation drive, Modi highlighted India’s achievements in dealing with the pandemic for the last 10 months or so and said, “Amid the crisis and the atmosphere of despair, someone was transmitting hope by putting his life on the line to save us.” His reference was to the frontline workers who risking their own lives came forward to help the people to fight against the virus that had put the entire world at ransom.

The prime minister, however, cautioned the people pointing out that launch of vaccination was only another chapter in the fight against the pandemic and not an end itself. The people would have to continue to maintain the Corona safeguards including wearing of masks and keeping social distance at least till the efficacy of the vaccines were established and triumph over the virus was ensured.

During the vaccination drive, Maharashtra recorded 14 cases of adverse impacts after giving the shots but none of them were very serious or fatal. The state government sources said the State officials were currently studying the cases. There was no report of any serious adverse reactions to the vaccines received from any other centre in the country so far.

The government had issued necessary instructions to keep a team of medical professionals on hand at every vaccination site to attend to the patients immediately if any recipient reported adverse reactions. It has also been made compulsory for every person to wait at least for 30 minutes at the site after receiving the shots to watch if they developed any side effects.

India will administer shots to three crore frontline workers in phase one. There are 3,006 session sites across the country, where 100 beneficiaries each will be given either of India’s two indigenous vaccines, Covaxin or Covishield. Every beneficiary will need to receive two doses of the same vaccine, 28 days apart.

Modi had also told his audience that the vaccines in India would be the cheapest in the world in comparison the cost of the vaccines being administered in other countries and without the necessity of being stored at extremely low temperatures saving in the transportation and maintenance cost.

Since the pandemic hit India in early 2020, over one crore and 5.42 lakh people have been infected with the disease, while close to 1.52 lakh have died. At present, Kerala and Maharashtra are reporting the highest number of daily cases.

India is drawing from its experiences of its Universal Immunisation Programme and the booth strategy during elections to conduct the massive drive. The Centre has disbursed Rs 480 crore to states for the operational cost of the exercise. Aadhaar Number and the Co-WIN platform will be used extensively to identify and monitor beneficiaries. If all goes to plan, 30 crore people including the three crore frontline workers and 27 crores of elderly people above the age of 50 and the people with comorbidities would receive the vaccines by July end.

The government has created a dedicated 24X7 helpline number — 1075 — to address queries related to the vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software.

As the country began administering vaccines against Covid-19, the union home minister Amit Shah said it represented the determination of a self-reliant India and is an important milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

In a series of tweets, Shah complimented scientists and said India as one of the few countries which have achieved success to end the biggest crisis facing humanity. He said the ‘New India’ led by Modi was an India that “transforms disasters into opportunities and challenges into achievements.”
“This ‘Made in India’ vaccine represents the determination of self-reliant India. On this historic day, I bow to all our Corona warriors,” he said in tweets in Hindi.
While many political leaders and medical professionals complimented the prime minister for the resolute fight against the pandemic, the chief ministers of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal and Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath joined Modi to convince people that the vaccines were safe and no one should worry in taking the shots.
Kejriwal and Adityanath requested people not to believe in rumours and listen to experts who say that vaccines against coronavirus are safe.

Kejriwal who visited the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital in Delhi, also interacted with some health workers who received the shot and lauded their contribution in fighting the pandemic.

“I have interacted with those vaccinated. No one has any problem. All are happy that they will get rid of coronavirus,” the chief minister said.

“I want to say to all not to pay attention to rumours and misinformation. The experts say vaccines are safe and there is no need to worry,” he added.

Adityanath who took a round of the Balrampur Hospital in Lucknow where he met the health workers who were administered vaccines, said “Today is a day of immense happiness and excitement. India is the first country which has launched two vaccines,” he said.

AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said, “I want to reassure everyone that the vaccine is safe. It is efficacious. We have to vaccinate a huge number of people and therefore we can’t start being very choosy. We must have confidence in our researchers, scientists and regulatory authorities.”