Coronavirus | President Kovind gets first dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Ram Nath Kovind urges all eligible citizens to get vaccinated

President Ram Nath Kovind receives the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, during the second phase of a countrywide inoculation drive, in New Delhi. B)

President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday was administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the Army’s Research and Referral (R&R) hospital.

“President Ram Nath Kovind, accompanied by his daughter, was administered the vaccine at the Army R&R Hospital, Delhi, today,” tweeted the official handle of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

President Kovind, 75, thanked “all the doctors, nurses, health workers and administrators who are successfully implementing the largest vaccination drive in history and urged all eligible citizens to get vaccinated”.

His vaccination came just a couple of days after

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken the first shot of Covaxin developed in India by the Bharat Biotech.

On March 1, the government rolled out the second phase after phase I in which health workers and other frontline workers were being vaccinated.

Though there were demands for the Prime Minister and other Ministers to vaccinate themselves to inspire citizens right at the start of the programme, the government had argued that frontline workers deserved to be protected first.

Apart from the Prime Minister, on Tuesday, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad too had tweeted a photo of him taking his first.