E-Paper
1,802 healthcare workers vaccinated in Pune district on first day
As many as 1,150 beneficiaries did not report to the centres and 71 refused to take vaccine, according to the district information source
A 74-year-old senior doctor, a diabetic, became the first beneficiary to be vaccinated with Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccine at Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC’s) Kamala Nehru hospital Saturday morning. At least 1,802 healthcare workers of the total 3,100 who were targeted to be vaccinated on day one were inoculated at the 31 vaccination centres across the district.
As many as 1,150 beneficiaries did not report to the centres and 71 refused to take vaccine, according to the district information source.
In Pune city, 438 of the 800 targeted beneficiaries were vaccinated, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) saw 456 out of 800 and in rural Pune 908 were vaccinated out of 1,500 targeted.
Amidst a ceremonial moment, the first beneficiary of Covid-19 vaccination drive under the first phase was inoculated on the fifth floor at Kamala Nehru Hospital at around 11 am. Dr Vinod Shah, 74, was relieved that he could now step out with safety precautions in place. Dr Shah practices at Kamala Nehru Hospital and is consultant at other hospitals.
Dr Nitin Abhyankar, a 57-year-old physician and a diabetic, also received the Covishield vaccine.
Dr Shah said, “I was forced to provide consultation and diagnosis to patients via phone or computer since the past ten months due to my age and comorbidities. The vaccine has boosted my confidence. After the second dose, I am sure that I will be able to step out by following the Covid safety measures.”
Dr Abhyankar said, “I have treated over 600 Covid patients and seen deaths caused by the virus. With the vaccine in place, we hope to see no more deaths. The vaccine is definitely a game-changer.”
PMC mayor Murlidhar Mohol, PMC commissioner Vikram Kumar, additional commissioner Rubal Agrawal and divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao were also present at Kamala Nehru hospital for vaccination.
Dr RS Wadia (88) was vaccinated at Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune with Covishield. He was probably one of the oldest doctors to be vaccinated in the city.
Dr Rebecca George, deputy medical director at the hospital, said, “We had prepared four booths, but we were later told to use only one booth and go slow with the vaccination process.”
Dr Avinash Naniwadkar, head of the radiology department at the hospital who also received the vaccine jab, said, “We got messages for vaccination on Friday night and follow-up calls in the morning. My blood pressure and pulse oximeter were checked before and also ten minutes after the vaccination process.”
At BJ Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital, which was also part of the Covishield clinical trial phase two and three, dean of the college Dr M Tambe was the first person to get the vaccine. Dr Tambe was administered with the Covishield vaccine.
“To send a message to all my colleagues I decided to take the vaccine first. Since the outbreak, Sassoon had been flooded with Covid-19 cases and it was a tough time for the entire team. Being the only tertiary care hospital, we had the responsibility to handle critical cases. Many doctors, nurses and hospital staff, almost a hundred, were exposed and several got infected,” said Tambe.
“I am absolutely fine and have no adverse effect post the vaccination,” said Dr Tambe.
Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, HOD, microbiology department, Sassoon, said, “I am happy that I got vaccinated today. Vaccination is the best way to achieve herd immunity safely, effectively, and in the shortest time. We have the most effective tool to halt the pandemic. One must get vaccinated to protect self, family and society.”
Aundh district hospital, meanwhile, was the only hospital to get Covaxin which has been developed and produced by Bharat Biotech and is India’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine.
Dr Prakash Rokde, senior ophthalmologist, Aundh district hospital, said, “The poor turnout could have been because of the late-night SMSes sent to beneficiaries or because of our staff’s shift timings. The turnout at our hospital was 60% which is a good number.”
