Eatala Rajender is the Minister of Health for Telangana.
Hyderabad:
Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender, who had stated that he would receive the first vaccine in his state, did not do so today citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “strict instruction” that health workers should be first in the row.
Yesterday, the minister had said that he would give the first injection to instill confidence among people who still had apprehensions about the safety of vaccines.
But a sanitation worker, Krishnamma, became the first in Telangana to receive the Covid vaccine. “I appeal to everyone to go ahead and give me the vaccine. I was also a little worried, but the doctors reassured me and the Minister of Health also told me not to worry. So far I have no symptoms,” he said, holding flowers delivered by Gandhi. Hospital, where he received the jab.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly told senior ministers at a meeting on vaccine preparation that politicians should not skip the line and should wait their turn even if they are just trying to inspire confidence.
The prime minister’s warning came after the Haryana government requested that public representatives such as parliamentarians and community members be included in the first phase of vaccination.
Bihar and Odisha’s health ministers also reportedly demanded that public representatives of the panchayats in Parliament be considered frontline workers and be vaccinated.
On the government’s priority list for the first round, healthcare workers and front-line workers such as police, civil defense personnel and sanitation workers are at the top.
Other high-risk groups, including people over 50 and those with comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension, come next.
An AIIMS sanitation worker in Delhi was the first person in the country to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
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