COVID-19 vaccination drive kickstarts in Udupi district

Team Udayavani, Jan 16, 2021, 10:38 AM IST

Udupi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conferencing on January 16.

The vaccination drive in Udupi district will inoculate health workers in the first phase of the drive starting today.

Vaccination centres have been set up at Ajjarkadu district hospital, Dr TMA Pai Hospital, Udupi Urban Primary Health Centre, Kandaluru Primary Health Centre and taluk hospitals at Kundapura and Karkala.

MLA K Raghupathi Bhat, Udupi zill panchayat president Dinakar Babu, Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha, zilla panchayat CEO Dr Naveen Bhat and District Health Officer Dr Sudhir Chandrachud were present during the inauguration.

On inaugural day, only 600 beneficiaries will be inoculated. This number will be increasing in the coming days as more centres are opened based on the directions of the Central and State governments.

As per the SOP issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, every COVID-19 vaccination centre can vaccinate 100 people in a day.

India recently approved two vaccines for the viral disease for restricted emergency use — Oxford University’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

A gap of 28 days is mandated between administration of two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccine recipients, meanwhile do not have the option to choose from the two vaccines, the government has said.