COVID Vaccination Drive On Day 1 Successful: Health Ministry

The Union Health Ministry on Saturday said that India's massive vaccination drive against the coronavirus disease was successful with 191,181 people being given the shot during the first day of the programme. It added that no one was hospitalized after being administered the vaccine shot.

A total of 3,351 sessions were held across the country with 16,755 personnel involved in the vaccination drive. Covishield, the Oxford University-AstraZenexa shot being manufactured by Serum Institute of India, was supplied to all states and Union territories and Bharat Biotech's Covasin was sent to 12 states.

Manish Kumar, a worker at Delhi's All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), was the first person to be vaccinated against the coronavirus disease. AIIMS director Randeep Guleria and NITI Aayog's VK Paul were also given the shots in the presence of Union health minister Harsh Vardhan.

Furthermore, the Indian health ministry has drawn up plans for 300 million people, almost the equivalent to the population of the US, to be vaccinated by August. Frontline healthcare workers, police and the army have been given priority, with those over 50 and with co-morbidity conditions to follow, all free of cost.