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‘Why did they get fever?’ PM’s jab on opposition’s reaction to 2.5 cr vaccination milestone
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at the opposition Congress, asking a doctor during an online interaction whether he could explain why a political party began to have an ‘adverse reaction’ after the country achieved historic 2
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at the opposition Congress, asking a doctor during an online interaction whether he could explain why a political party began to have an ‘adverse reaction’ after the country achieved historic 2.5 crore vaccinations in a single day on the occasion of his 71st birthday on Friday.
Dr Nitin Dhupdale, a doctor at the Goa Medical College and Hospital, was the first person chosen to interact with the prime minister during his interaction with doctors, health workers and other frontline workers on completion of 100% vaccination (of the first dose) in Goa.
“I am not a doctor or a medical expert, but we have heard of adverse side effects or a fever. If there is a high fever, one loses mental balance, doctors say this. Every hundred vaccinations that are given one or two persons report vaccine side effects. Yesterday, we were able to administer 2.5 crore doses, possibly the highest in the world for a single day. But yesterday after midnight after the figure was announced, a political party started showing some adverse reactions? Is there a logic to this,” the Prime Minister asked.
Dr Dhupdale responded with a brief chuckle but went on to explain how in Goa, people were explained what vaccine they were being administered, the possible side effects and were also given a helpline number to contact in case they experienced a reaction.
“We have explained to people what vaccine was being given. We also gave them a helpline to call if they experience side effects,” Dr Dhupdale said.
Goa is the second state after Himachal Pradesh to have ‘officially’ completed 100% vaccination of the first dose even though there are an estimated several thousand people yet to take their first dose.
Speaking at the beginning of the interaction, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said that Goa had exceeded its vaccination targets and has achieved 102% of its original intended target of first dose vaccination.
Our target of vaccinating 11.66 lakh people with the first dose has been completed. We have administered 102% of the initial target with the first dose. We have also completed vaccinating around 5-lakh people which is around 42% of our target with both doses,” Sawant said.
“When you asked the nation to do a Tika Utsav, we took it forward and took it to each village. We did three editions of tika utsav going to each village and municipality. For the second dose too we had three editions, the third of which was launched yesterday on your birthday and is currently ongoing. We have done walk-in vaccination and on the spot vaccination, which is why we were able to achieve our target,” Sawant said.
“In far off places, hesitancy was there. Through awareness, we were able to dispel it. We also had Tauktae cyclone, floods but our field and health workers helped us a lot and this is why this could be possible,” the chief minister added.
