The COVID-19 vaccination programme was conducted in Vellore, Tirupathur, Ranipet and Tiruvannamalai districts on Saturday. According to data released by the Health Department, a total of 154 health workers got vaccinated with the Covishield vaccine on the first day and all of them got a provisional certificate for the vaccination (1st dose).
The vaccine was administered in three centres in Ranipet, three in Cheyyar, five in Tirupathur, four in Vellore and six in Tiruvannamalai district respectively. The vaccination programme began at 11.30 a.m in the districts.
The capacity of the day, in all the four districts together, was 1,800. In Vellore, out of the 400 beneficiaries allotted for the day, a total of 55 got vaccinated. In Ranipet, the planned number was 300, and 15 of them got the vaccine shot. In Tiruvannamalai, the numbers were 600 and 36, and in Tirupathur 500 and 48.
ADVERTISEMENT
While 18,600 doses have been allocated for Vellore, 4,400 have been set aside for health workers in Ranipet. The number stands at 4,700 in Tirupathur, 10,000 for Tiruvannamalai and 4,400 in Cheyyar. "We received a total of 42,100 doses totally and on the first day, 100 beneficiaries per centre are supposed to get vaccinated in every district," said a senior official from the Health Department.
S. Thilipan, Chief Medical Officer, Tirupathur Government Hospital, said he took the vaccine first in the district. “I did not have any adverse effect. In fact, after 30 minutes of observation, I went back to work. There will be some hesitation on the first day as it is a new vaccine. All the health workers will be vaccinated in a phased manner," he added.