Vaccines safe, ignore rumours, says PM

Vaccines safe, ignore rumours, says PM

AIIMS chief, NITI Aayog member and SII CEO among those vaccinated on Day 1

17/01/2021

The wait is over: Sanitation worker Manish Kumar getting vaccinated in New Delhi in the presence of Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and AIIMS chief Randeep Guleria. SANDEEP SAXENA

special correspondent NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

He said India-made vaccines were safe and asked people not to believe rumours. He congratulated all Indians and the country’s scientists. He noted that the world had not seen a vaccination drive of this scale, and India’s response to the pandemic had been acknowledged globally.

“The vaccines have come about in the shortest time span and this is an achievement for India and its contribution towards the battle against COVID-19. There are 100 countries which do not have a population of three crore but India in the first phase will inoculate three crore healthcare and frontline workers, and in the next step, we will take this number to 30 crore. There are only three countries in the world with more than 30 crore population: India, the U.S. and China. Hence, this is going to be the biggest vaccination drive,” Mr. Modi observed.

On the first day, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) medical director Dr. Randeep Guleria and NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr. V.K. Paul were among the first to be vaccinated, along with a sanitation worker at AIIMS. Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla also took the vaccination.

“Indian vaccines are much cheaper than foreign ones and easier and more conducive to India’s conditions. There are vaccines abroad whose single dose costs up to ₹5,000 and have to be kept in freezers at minus 70 degrees temperature. India-manufactured vaccines are best suited for us,” Mr. Modi said.