COVID-19 vaccination drive: Mumbai healthcare workers, doctors among first recipients on Day 1

A health worker receives COVID-19 vaccine at BR Ambedkar municipal general hospital.Pic/Satej Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray launched the statewide COVID-19 vaccination drive on Saturday. Several doctors were administered the vaccine with many of them saying that they wanted to dispel fear about the inoculation by volunteering to take the first doses.

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• At the civic-run Sion hospital and medical college, Dean Mohan Joshi was the first beneficiary, followed by 42 others including heads of department and associate professors.

• Ganesh Parkar, who works as a peon at Dadar's Sushrusha Hospital, said he was happy that he was the first employee from the hospital to get the jab.
  
  
  Medical staff waiting to be vaccinated show their token number at at Bharatratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Municipal General Hospital on Saturday. Pic/Satej Shinde

• Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said the SMSes were not received by some beneficiaries due to technical glitches in Co-WIN application.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi should first get himself vaccinated for COVID-19 to clear doubts in the minds of people, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar said on Saturday. READ THE FULL STORY HERE

• Bharat Biotech, which has received a government purchase order for supply of 55 lakh doses of Covaxin, said on Saturday that the company will pay compensation to recipients in case of any serious adverse effects experienced after receiving the antidote. READ THE FULL STORY HERE

• CEO of Serum Institute of India Adar Poonawalla gets the COVID-19 vaccine

• Uddhav Thackeray launched the drive at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) centre in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), terming it as "a revolutionary step". The civic body started the drive at the 40-odd units housed in the nine vaccination centres and is expected to at least vaccinate 4,000 people on Saturday. "The drive, which has been planned in two shifts will start around 11 am on both Saturday and Sunday and continue till 6 pm," said a civic official. With this, we have taken a revolutionary step today during the Covid-19 pandemic, the health workers cooperated with us in a big way. Even after the vaccination, all Covid-19 precautions must continue to be observed," Thackeray urged.
• Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar, Dean, JJ Hospital, in Mumbai, and Dr Padmaja Saraf received the vaccine shots in Mumbai and at Jalna civil hospital, respectively."
• While former Shiv Sena Health Minister Deepak Sawant was administered the first Covishield Vaccine jab at R.N. Cooper Hospital, medico Madhura Patil was given the maiden dose at the Bandra Kurla Complex field hospital, both in their capacity as medical frontline workers.

• WATCH VIDEO: CM Uddhav Thackeray inaugurates the COVID-19 vaccination drive at BKC, Mumbai.

• The inoculation drive is taking place at 285 centres in Maharashtra where 100 healthcare workers will be administered the shots in a day, and cover 28,500 workers, an official said.

Rajawadi Hospital dean Vidhya Thakur received the first shot at Rajawadi vaccination center. Pic/Suresh Karkera

• Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched India's COVID-19 vaccination drive on Saturday via video conferencing. Adequate doses of the two made-in-India vaccines have been delivered to all states and Union Territories, the government said. On day one around 3,00,000 people will receive the first of two doses. While launching the drive, the Prime Minister said that in general, vaccines take years to develop, but now we have two Made in India vaccines and this is evidence of India's scientific progress and talent.

Snehal Rane, who works with BMC as a public health worker, gets ready for COVID-19 vaccination at Jumbo Covid center, BKC. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

• A moment of HOPE for the human race as we witnessed the first vaccine being administered at the BKC vaccination centre, tweeted Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray.

• "Today is the start of the inoculation drive for COVID-19 vaccine. We have to end coronavirus," Uddhav Thackeray said.

• Dr Madhura Patil took the first Covishield vaccine dose amid a huge media glare with Uddhav Thackeray, Mayor Kishori Pednekar, BMC Commissioner I.S. Chahal, top ministers, civic and medical officials and other invitees standing and watching the process. Patil displayed a 'thumbs up' sign.

• Uddhav Thackeray launches COVID-19 vaccination drive.

• Wockhardt Hospital at Mira Road is all set for the first day of the COVID-19 vaccination drive.

• Dr Vidya Thakur, Superintendent of Rajawadi Hospital, is the first to get COVID-19 vaccination shot in Mumbai. Pic/Anurag Kamble

• A sanitation worker was the first person to receive COVID-19 vaccine at AIIMS in New Delhi.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally on Friday reached 19,84,768 as it recorded 3,145 fresh cases of infection. The state also reported 45 deaths, taking the fatality count to 50,336.

Mumbai reported 575 positive cases during the day, which pushed its overall case count to 3,01,655, while its death toll rose to 11,229 of which eight were reported on Friday.

Over one crore people (1,05,27,683) have been infected with COVID-19 so far and the death toll rose to close to 1.52 lakh, according to Friday's health ministry update. There are over 2.13 lakh active cases in India.