Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, has received a first inoculation against Covid-19, as the country moves into the next phase of its vaccination campaign and makes the jabs available to the wider public.
Modi tweeted a photo of himself getting vaccinated at the government’s prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences early on Monday morning.
His inoculation comes as India begins vaccinating people over the age of 60, as well as people over age 45 with specified health conditions that could raise the risk for severe Covid-19.
“Took my first dose of the Covid vaccine at AIIMS,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter. “Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against Covid-19. I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together let us make India Covid-19 free.
India had launched its nationwide vaccination campaign in mid-January. But given New Delhi’s decision to inoculate healthcare workers and front-line public sector workers first, Modi had said that he and other politicians would wait in the queue for their turn.
The semi-official ANI news agency reported that Modi had received a dose of the indigenously developed Covaxin, which is produced by Bharat Biotech, but which has not released its efficacy data to the public.
The inclusion of Covaxin in the first phase of India’s ambitious vaccination drive — alongside the Serum Institute of India’s locally made version of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine — has fuelled vaccine hesitancy, with many Indian health workers reluctant to take the jab.
Even as India moves into the phase of vaccinating the general public, people will not be given a choice of which vaccine they will receive, or any advance notice of which vaccine will be available at the inoculation centre they attend.
Bharat Biotech has said it expects to release its efficacy data in the next few weeks.
So far, India has administered 13.5m doses of vaccines, of which 1.2m doses were Covaxin.
India did not carry out any inoculations this weekend as the government moved to upgrade its CoWin vaccination app, the platform through which the entire campaign is being managed.
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