PM SETS EXAMPLE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took the first dose of COVID vaccine for senior citizens at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, setting an example and spurring others in his age category to do so as well.

An early riser, he landed at AIIMS at 7 AM, to ensure no inconvenience to others, before flying off to Assam for the poll campaign. He took the mask off for a photo shoot during the vaccination.

At 71 (d.o.b 17.09.1950), he was eligible for the third phase of vaccination that began on March 1 for senior citizens who are 60 plus and those above 45 with specified co-morbidities to be certified by registered medical practitioners. He was the first to be inoculated in this phase as the actual registration for it began only two hours later at 9 AM.

Modi was administered Covaxin, the locally made government-backed vaccine developed by Hyderabad's pharma company Bharat Biotech, a 24-year-old company. There has been some hesitancy about taking this particular vaccine in view of its lack of exhaustive human trials. By taking the jab, PM Modi has given it his personal stamp of approval, a testimonial that will enable many to overcome their inhibition. The only other vaccine being administered in India is Covishield which has been developed by Oxford and is manufactured locally in Pune by the Serum Institute of India (SII). It enjoys a fair degree of acceptance worldwide and is the favoured drug, a fact that works to Covaxin's disadvantage. Modi was wearing an Assamese 'gamcha', when he reached AIIMS to take the jab, possibly because he was shortly scheduled to fly out to poll-bound Assam. In keeping with his style, PM Modi was wearing a Bengali 'kurta;' incidentally, the sister who inoculated him was P Niveda, a nurse from Puducherry, and standing behind him was Rosamma Anil, another sister from Kerala. All four states, besides Tamil Nadu, are going to polls later this month. He also spoke to the two nurses af ter the vaccination. Af ter taking the vaccine, the Prime Minister tweeted an appeal to all to take the vaccine.

"I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together, let us make India Covid-19 free. Remarkable how our doctors and scientists have worked in quick time to strengthen the global fight against COVID-19," the tweet said.