A total of 57,004 COVID-19 frontline workers from government hospitals, primary health centres and private hospitals in Coimbatore district have been registered on the CoWIN online portal for vaccine administration, said Minister for Municipal Administration S.P. Velumani here on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters after inaugurating the COVID-19 vaccination drive at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), he said that the vaccination drive was carried out at CMCH, Mettupalayam Government Hospital, Pollachi Government Hospital and Nallattipalayam Primary Health Centre, where a maximum of 100 beneficiaries per centre were administered the vaccine.
At CMCH, the beneficiaries included 34 doctors, 37 medical college students, conservancy workers and Dean P. Kalidas, Mr. Velumani said. The vaccines will not be administered to those under the age of 18, pregnant and lactating women in the State, he said.
V. Booma, Head of the Department of Paediatrics and Vaccination Nodal Officer at CMCH, became the first beneficiary of the Covishield vaccine at CMCH. She told mediapersons that it was a proud moment for her when the vaccine was administered. “There was no panic, because I was mentally prepared,” she said.
Dr. Kalidas, who was the second beneficiary to be vaccinated, said that a rapid response team was ready at the observation room to attend to the beneficiaries if they experience any adverse side effects following the vaccination. However, there were no reports of adverse side effects among the beneficiaries, he said.
S. Kannammal, one of the contract conservancy workers at CMCH who was vaccinated, said that she worked for eight months as part of the housekeeping staff at the hospital’s COVID-19 ward. “I hope this [pandemic] will come to an end soon,” she said prior to the vaccination.
District Collector K. Rajamani, Deputy Director of Health Services (Coimbatore) G. Ramesh Kumar, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (officer on special duty) P. Vadivelan and Commissioner of Coimbatore Corporation P. Kumaravel Pandian were among the officials who were present at CMCH during the inauguration of the vaccination drive.
The Health Department said that only 72 out of the 400 beneficiaries were vaccinated across Coimbatore district as of 5.30 p.m. on Saturday. This included 40 beneficiaries at CMCH, 24 at Pollachi Government Hospital, two at Mettupalayam Government Hospital and six at Nallattipalayam PHC.
Sources in the Department claimed that a section of frontline workers was hesitant to participate in the vaccination drive. The officials also experienced technical difficulties while registering the names of the beneficiaries in the CoWIN portal, according to the sources.
In Tirupur, Minister for Animal Husbandry Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan inaugurated the vaccination drive at the Government Hospital in Udumalpet. The vaccination drive was carried out at Tiruppur Government Medical College Hospital, Government Hospital at Dharapuram and Primary Health Centre at Perumanallur apart from the Udumalpet Government Hospital.
Tiruppur district saw a relatively higher number of frontline workers getting vaccinated, as the vaccines were administered to 195 out of 400 beneficiaries in the four vaccination centres across the district.
A total of 16,640 frontline workers from the district have been registered for vaccination in the CoWIN portal, a press release said.
