PM Modi, Chief Ministers to receive shots in Round II

New Delhi: In a major move aimed at giving a boost to the Covid vaccination drive, which is moving at a slow pace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may get the vaccine shots in the second phase of the inoculation drive to instil confidence among countrymen as India, on Thursday, registered about 10 lakh beneficiaries who were vaccinated across the states.

As per sources, along with the Prime Minister, all Chief Ministers, MPs and MLAs above 50 years will also get vaccinated to encourage beneficiaries to take part in the drive without any hesitation.

The vaccine drive was launched on January 16 with healthcare workers and others at the frontline of the Coronavirus fight receiving jabs of two vaccines — Serum Institute of India's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.

Many states are struggling to meet targets and hesitancy to take the shots along with the fear of side effects are seen to be part of the reason. In the second phase, it is the turn of those above 50 and people with comorbidities to take the shots.

In his meeting with Chief Ministers before the drive, the Prime Minister had said that they did not need to panic or rush to get vaccinated as they would get their turn in the second round.

Chief Ministers of states like Haryana, Bihar and Telangana had reportedly suggested that MLAs, MPs and other public representatives should be considered frontline workers and be vaccinated. However, Modi had strictly warned anyone against jumping the queue.

Meanwhile, according to the Union Health ministry's provisional reports, the number of healthcare workers who have received Covid-19 vaccine jabs in the country till the evening of the sixth day of the nationwide immunisation drive has reached 9,99,065.

The ministry also added on Thursday that 1,92,581 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 6 pm through vaccination sessions held across 27 states and Union Territories while adding that the final report would be completed by late in the night.

"The cumulative number of healthcare workers vaccinated against Covid has touched 9,99,065 (till 6 pm on Wednesday) through 18,159 sessions, as per the provisional report," said Dr Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary in the Health ministry.

As far as adverse event following immunization (AEFI) are concerned, Agnani said there was one hospitalisation in Rajasthan.

"A person who was vaccinated on January 16 and developed intracranial hemorrhage on January 20 has been admitted to Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur in Rajasthan and it is not related to vaccination. Further, no death has been reported today (Thursday)," Agnani said.

The total number of beneficiaries who have been vaccinated on Thursday till 6 pm include 15,507 in Andhra Pradesh, 15,798 in Bihar, 10,266 in Kerala, 16,103 in Karnataka, 7,117 in Madhya Pradesh, 6,497 in Tamil Nadu, 5,128 in Delhi, 12,212 in Gujarat and 7,187 in West Bengal, according to the provisional report.

With enhancements in the CoWIN software, the Additional Secretary said that creation of more session sites, more sessions per site and change in site location have now been allowed. Further, planning and scheduling the sessions for the entire week has also been enabled.