Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan addressed the media after the first day of India’s vaccination campaign
New Delhi:
Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan expressed “tremendous relief” on Saturday night at the conclusion of the first day of the national Covid vaccination campaign in India, which began shortly after 11 a.m. and saw 1,65,714 vaccinated people in 3,351 sites in the country. The Ministry of Health highlighted that there have been no cases of post-vaccination hospitalization due to adverse side effects.
Dr Vardhan, who was at the AIIMS Delhi to witness Manish Kumar become the first to receive the vaccine, hailed the vaccines as “sanjeevani“(a miracle cure) in the fight against the new coronavirus.
“Vaccines have been presented to the country as’sanjeevani‘in the fight against COVID-19. The fight was gradually heading towards victory … but now it seems almost definitive that the step towards victory will be made quickly, “Dr. Vardhan told reporters at a news conference.
“We were successful to some extent in our fight against COVID-19 last year. Data from the last three or four months (shows) that we are gradually heading towards victory against COVID,” he added.
Dr. Vardhan also commended the Indian scientific community for helping to develop, test and mass manufacture at least two viable coronavirus vaccines: Covishield and Covaxin, both of which have been approved for emergency use and have been deployed in different locations around the world. country.
“To further accelerate this, our scientists developed two indigenous vaccines with the support of our scientists, clinicians, researchers, the vaccine manufacturing industry, and citizens of India, who volunteered for clinical trials for the research of scientists were successful, “he said.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also praised the scientific community. “It takes years to make a vaccine, but in such a short time, not one but two vaccines manufactured in India were developed. This is a testament to the skills and talents of our scientists,” said the prime minister.
Two vaccines have been approved for emergency use in India: Covishield (developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and manufactured by the Serum Institute, Pune) and Covaxin, homegrown and manufactured entirely, by Bharat Biotech, based in Hyderabad.
Covaxin was administered in 12 states on Day 1, the Health Ministry confirmed, adding that 11 states had also received Covishield.
The green light given to Covaxin has sparked a controversy, with some experts and the opposition (including Congress) critical of approving a drug that has yet to pass Phase III trials.
The government has said its decision was based on “an enormous amount of immunogenicity and safety data” from phase I and II trials and that the vaccine had been allowed in “clinical trial mode.” Everyone who received Covaxin today also had to sign consent forms.
AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria and Dr. VK Paul, from the NITI Aayog government think tank, received Covaxin injections today, as senior doctors from across the country spoke about the vaccine. However, the resident doctors at the RML Hospital in Delhi were not convinced and asked for Covishield instead.
As the vaccines were launched today, the World Health Organization office in Southeast Asia praised India’s efforts, calling it the “largest vaccination campaign.”
In the first phase of vaccination, about one crore of health care personnel and two crore of frontline workers, such as police, community care workers and employees of the sanitation department, will receive the injections. They will be followed by around 27 million people, among whom are those over 50 years of age and those under the age of 50 with serious diseases and associated comorbidities.
.
