Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, SC judges to get COVID-19 vaccine today

NEW DELHI: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several top leaders and chief ministers got vaccinated, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and all sitting and retired judges of the Supreme Court will receive the first dose of the homegrown COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday (March 2, 2021).

Dr Harsh Vardhan took to Twitter on Monday and tweeted, “Now that I am eligible to get inoculated, I shall schedule to get vaccinated tomorrow. I urge each & every citizen to get vaccinated at the earliest whenever eligible. Tt's the best tool to end this #pandemic” 

The Health Minister had on Monday praised the Prime Minister and said that he led by a ''shining example'' as he took the first jab of COVID-19 vaccine at the AIIMS, Delhi.

The second phase of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive for age-appropriate population groups began on Monday (March 1) with the Union Health Ministry calling out eligible people to get an appointment at respective hospitals in the country. The Health Minister also urged opposition leaders to take the COVID-19 vaccine and help in ending the vaccine hesitancy. 

"I have been saying from the beginning that both our vaccines are safe and perfect as far as immunogenicity is concerned. We are thankful to the Prime Minister, he has always told us that you have to lead by example. He took the jab first when the vaccination of people above 60 years has begun," said Dr Harsh Vardhan.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, over 25 lakh beneficiaries registered on the Co-Win portal on the very first day. Out of the 25 lakh, 24.5 lakh are citizens and the rest are healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs). About 6.44 lakh appointments were also booked on Monday by the citizen beneficiaries.

A statement from the Union Health Ministry confirmed this development, saying vaccination will be done entirely through the Co-Win system and that the government facility within the Supreme Court precinct will be used.

Meanwhile, sitting and retired Supreme Court judges will also get Covid-19 vaccine shots from today. The judges’ families will also get the vaccine in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Central government.

Those in the know of the development added that the Supreme Court registry has arranged a vaccination facility on the premises in addition to the ones at the government hospitals listed for the vaccination. 

A total of 1,47,28,569 vaccine doses have been given across India, as per the provisional report till 7 pm on Monday. These include 66,95,665 HCWs who have taken the 1st dose and 25,57,837 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 53,27,587 FLWs (1st dose), 1,28,630 beneficiaries more than 60 years old and 18,850 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16, 2021.