PM Modi to interact with vaccine beneficiaries

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with beneficiaries and vaccinators of COVID-19 inoculation drive in Varanasi via video conferencing. India launched its vaccine rollout on January 16.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with beneficiaries and vaccinators of the COVID-19 inoculation drive in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

The interaction would take place at 1:15 pm via video conferencing. The participants in the interaction will share their first hand experience of vaccination.

The interaction follows continuous dialogue and discussion by the Prime Minister with scientists, political leaders, officials and other stakeholders to proactively ensure smooth conduct of the world's largest vaccination drive, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

"The world's largest vaccination drive is underway in India. Our frontline warriors are getting vaccinated across the nation. At 1:15 pm tomorrow, 22nd January, I would interact with beneficiaries and vaccinators of Covid vaccination drive in Varanasi, via video conferencing," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

On January 16, the Prime Minister had launched India's vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus via video conferencing. Billed as the world's largest vaccination program, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, the drive aims to first inoculate millions of its healthcare and frontline workers and reach an estimated 3 crore people by the end of its first phase.

In Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Modi, the COVID-19 vaccination drive started at six centres. The first shot of the vaccine at the Sir Sunderlal Hospital of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) centre was administered to a sanitary staff Rashid Khan.

Amid the ongoing vaccination programme, some adverse events have been reported following inoculation. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday released posters prepared by the Health Ministry to address issues related to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. He urged people to make judicious use of these posters and make it a mass campaign.

The drugs regulatory body of India has currently approved two vaccines. Pune-based Serum Institute of India has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad's Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.

(ANI)