The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive which targeted healthcare workers was completed on a smooth note in Kalyana Karnataka on Saturday. There were no reports of any adverse effects of the vaccine. The vaccination to the selected beneficiaries began in the morning after Prime Minister Narendra Modi remotely launched the drive.
In Kalaburagi, Umesh Jadhav, MP, flagged off the drive exuding confidence over the effectiveness of the vaccine against the pandemic. “I thanked the scientists for their efforts to prepare the vaccine and made available to the people at the earliest possible. People had desperately been waiting for the vaccine and now their wait has come to an end. People will no longer afraid of the pandemic,” Dr. Jadhav said.
Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jyothsna, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Dr. Raja P and other senior officers were found monitoring the procedure at various centres. Of the 778 selected beneficiaries, 393 were vaccinated at eight centres in the district by the end of the day. Group D employee Anantaraj, who was attached to Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, was the first to be vaccinated in the district.
In Bidar, Deputy Commissioner R. Ramachandran flagged off the vaccination drive by overseeing the administering of the vaccine to Indumati and Uday Kumar, a Group D worker and a lab technician at Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences respectively.
“We have targeted to vaccinate 540 frontline health workers at six centres in the district in the first phase and 336 were vaccinated. We have already started the registration for the second phase of vaccination,” Mr. Ramachandran said. Later, he, along with Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Gyanendra Kumar Gangwar, paid visits to a few centres and monitor the drive.
Karadi Sanganna, MP, was found infusing confidence in Basavaraj B.L., a Group D worker at Koppal Institute of Medical Sciences, who was the first to get the vaccination in Koppal district. He also wished the beneficiary with a bouquet after the vaccination. Later Deputy Commissioner Vikas Kishor Suralkar said that 173 of the 344 beneficiaries were vaccinated at four centres in the district at the end of the day.
Of the 1,200 targeted health workers, 902 were vaccinated at 12 centres in Ballari at the end of the day. Deputy Commissioner Pavan Kumar Malapati, Zilla Panchayat CEO Nandini K R and other senior officers were found visiting the centres and monitoring the vaccination process.
“I was on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19 in Ballari. I did not get infected as I took enough precautionary measure. Now, I came forward to get vaccinated for infusing confidence among others,” Shantkumar, a Group D worker at Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, who was the first to be vaccinated in the district, told presspersons.
