Vaccination to start in India by 16th Jan 2021 ~ the good work of TN Health Minister in Covid containment

WE pray that sooner Covid becomes a thing of past, public memory brainfades the existence of Corona and people live happily hereafter.  All that should be possible with vaccines to happen now .. .. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji will launch India’s Covid-19 inoculation drive on January 16 and will interact with some of the healthcare workers who will be receiving the shots on Day 1, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. Less than 2 days before India starts its nationwide inoculation drive, about 95 per cent of 1.1 crore Covishield vaccine doses purchased by the government have been delivered across the country and the remaining 1 lakh vials will be delivered shortly, sources told PTI. The first consignment of Oxford-Astrazeneca’s Covishield vaccine was dispatched from Pune early Tuesday.

India has identified over 3 lakh healthcare workers across the country who will get the first doses of the coronavirus vaccines that have been supplied by Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech. 56 lakh doses of Covishield have reached states and Union territories for the vaccination drive that will kick in from January 16. Prime Minister Narendra Modiji  will be virtually launching India’s vaccination drive. Meanwhile, Brazil has sent a plane to India to import 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine that is being manufactured by SII in Pune. Bolivia on the other hand has signed a deal with the Serum Institute to access 5 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Bolivia has already entered a deal with Russia for 5.2 million doses of the Sputnik-V vaccine and they have now said the country will fetch another 5 million doses from India to inoculate its entire population

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi hailed this as a "landmark step" in India’s fight against the virus. Before this, India conducted two dummy vaccination drives to understand the best way to administer vaccines and detect any logistical loopholes in their distribution. India's drugs regulator recently approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and the indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country. Two dry runs of the vaccines have also been conducted across the country to understand the best way to administer them and plug loopholes in logistics and training.

Meanwhile the no. of persons affected by Covid reached 9,23,13,199 – of which USA tops with 2,31,13,199.  Recall that a couple of months back, many had predicted that India would overtake USA and would become the no. 1 Nation most affected.  Now India has 1,05,12,093 and is on the downward curve.  The last 24 hours no. of affected in India was 16946 while it Was 2,30,4786 in USA. Brazil which is no. 3 in the list had 60899 in 24 hours.

Back home Maharashtra continues to top the list with 1978044 cases, followed by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. There was a time when Kerala’s Health Minister was given awards for containing Corona – now TN has 828287 and Kerala has 8257869 – the last 24 hours count for TN was 673 while it was 6004 in Kerala.  The TN  actor politician  who hailed the Kerala model and perhaps he is reading these facts and statistics today too !

Already ravaged by Ockhi Cyclone and two consecutive floods during the previous years, Kerala has suffered a revenue loss of Rs 1.56 lakh crore due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, state Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac said today. Isaac, who tabled the Left government's Economic Review 2020 in the state assembly, a day ahead of the state budget, said natural disasters including Cyclone Ockhi of 2017, two consecutive floods of 2018, '19 and the pandemic affected the state's economy along with the return of non-resident Keralites (NRKs) from abroad, mostly following job loss.

In TN the Health Minister was earlier mired in lot of controversies but do you remember Manapparai !!  .. .. Dr C Vijayabaskar the Health Minister of Tamil Nadu was elected from Viralimalai constituency.   During the rescue operation of a boy from a borewell  at   Nadukattupatti village near Manapparai town,  the continued presence and personal handling of the Minister caught everyone’s attention. During tough Covid times, the TN Health Minister has been constantly endeavouring in personally supervising the various good measures of the State Government in handling the dreaded corona disease.  He has been everywhere – visiting various covid wards, Govt hospitals, talking to Health personnel, talking and encouraging victims for speedy recovery.  The presence, supervision and efforts of the TN Health Minister has been exceptional and deserves lot of appreciation. 

Kicking off distribution of the Covishield vaccine from Trichy to neighbouring districts, health minister Dr C Vijayabaskar yesterday  appealed to people to not spread rumours on the complications of the vaccine against Covid-19 and offered to take it himself to prove the result.  Flagging off the vehicles loaded with Covishield vaccine from the regional vaccine centre in Trichy, Vijayabaskar told the reporters that the research using the Covishield and Covaxin in government hospitals in Tamil Nadu showed no adverse effects to any of the people. "We tested both Covishield and Covaxin in our government hospital. No one being tested on the vaccines had complications" he told the reporters in Trichy this morning, calling it a proud moment that the indigenous vaccines were now ready.

The minister expressed his willingness to take the shot to prove the reliability of the vaccines. "I can take it but I should not as per the guidelines as the vaccine is meant for frontline workers. If it is necessary, I will get the vaccine by taking permission," he said.  The health minister also instructed health workers across the state, to ensure none of the beneficiaries are forced to take the vaccine on Saturday. "We have also been instructed to not vaccinate anyone with health issues, co-morbidities and other situations like breastfeeding mothers," said a health officer in Coimbatore.  The health minister also sought to clarify to the people that no one should be under the impression that the anti-bodies will be developed in the body as soon as the vaccine is taken. "The second dose will be after 28 days after the first dose. The immunity will develop 14 days after the second dose. So, people should be cautious," he said.

Appreciate the efforts of Tamil Nadu Government and special appreciations to the Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
14.1.2021