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Tamil Nadu health minister gets Covid-19 vaccine, opts for Covaxin
He urged everyone to take the vaccine to safeguard themselves from the deadly virus that has taken the lives of more than 150,000 people in India.
Tamil Nadu health minister C Vijayabhaskar on Friday got vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and opted for the indigenously-developed Covaxin by Bharat Biotech. Vijayabhaskar said that he took the jab as a doctor and as a member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to instill faith in health workers regarding the vaccine. He urged everyone to take the vaccine to safeguard themselves from the deadly virus that has taken the lives of more than 150,000 people in India.
"I got my covaxin shot! Thanks to the team Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for the seamless experience. Appeal everyone to do it when your turn comes. Let's end Covid-19 together," Vijayabhaskar tweeted after he was vaccinated.
The minister chose to be inoculated by Covaxin, as it is a 'Made in India' product and only 908 people including him have been vaccinated by the homegrown shot till date, reported news agency PTI. He had also said that around 10.45 lakh Covishield doses and 20,000 Covaxin doses have arrived in the state so far and 166 session sites for the vaccination drive has been set up in the state, reported PTI.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with vaccine beneficiaries in Varanasi on Friday. Addressing the hesitancy around the vaccine, he thanked the beneficiaries for getting vaccinated in the first phase of the Covid vaccine drive and instilling confidence for the same.
India had vaccinated nearly 1 million beneficiaries as of Thursday evening, according to the data presented by the Union health ministry. Tamil Nadu on Thursday reported 596 new coronavirus cases and 9 deaths. The total coronavirus caseload in the southern state is over 8.3 lakh.
The country on Friday has reported 14,545 new coronavirus cases, taking the total tally of India to 1,06,25,428 cases. The coronavirus recovery rate in India stand at 96.78 per cent with total 1,02,83,708 recoveries as of today, according to the health ministry's data.
