Covid vaccination starts in Odisha, class IV hospital employee gets first shot

Odisha has received 4.08 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 20,000 doses of Covaxin vaccine in the first lot

Published on: Jan 16, 2021, 13:56:38 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty | Edited by Abhinav Sahay, Bhubaneswar

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The first phase Covid-19 vaccination kicked off in Odisha on Saturday with the immunisation drive at 161 session sites in all 30 districts of the state.

A sanitation worker was the first to receive Covid 19 vaccine in Bhubaneswar (HT Photo)

The first vaccine shot in the state was administered to a sanitation worker, Biranchi Naik (51), of Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar at 11:05 am followed by the director of Capital Hospital, Dr Laxmidhar Sahu, an orthopaedic surgeon. A total of 16,100 healthcare workers would be vaccinated on the first day of the drive.

Former AIIMS director and vice chancellor of Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (SOA) University, Dr Ashok Mohapatra and current director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, Dr Gitanajali Batmanbane, also received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

The state has received 4.08 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 20,000 doses of Covaxin vaccine in the first lot and has dispatched it to the cold chain points in the districts.

A senior government official said prescribed protocols will be followed while administering the vaccine and necessary infrastructure has been created across districts for this purpose.

The government is targeting to complete the first dose of vaccination of 1.92 lakh healthcare workers within a week using the available vials. The state has 3.38 lakh registered healthcare workers, said Pradipta Mohapatra, additional chief secretary of the health department.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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