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Shot in the arm for health workers: From facing harassment to being among the first to get vaccine
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Shot in the arm for health workers: From facing harassment to being among the first to get vaccinePTI
Last Updated: Jan 16, 2021, 09:12 PM IST
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Several hundreds of healthcare workers, from doctors to sanitation workers at hospitals, were given shots of COVID-19 vaccine at 81 centres, after the world s largest vaccination drive was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi across the country.
PTI
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal presents a flower to a medic during the COVID-19 vaccination drive, at LNJP Hospital in New Delhi.
The COVID-19 vaccination drive is underway in the national capital with healthcare workers, who were at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic, getting the first shots amid cheers and applause. Manish Kumar, a sanitation worker, became the first person to receive the vaccine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Saturday. At the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital, 48-year-old nurse Biji Tomy, a native of Kerala, was the first person to get the shot. I am feeling very proud and humbled to be part of this historic moment. We risked our lives and were pained to see so many deaths every day. It is a relief that we have a vaccine against coronavirus now, Tomy told PTI.
Covid-19 Vaccination Drive Begins In Several States; Check Details Here
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nationwide rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination drive via video conferencing earlier in the day.
A medic administers the first dose of Covishield vaccine to a frontline worker in the presence of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy and other ministers, after the virtual launch of COVID-19 vaccination drive by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad. PTI photo Outlook Web Bureau 2021-01-16T15:58:27+05:30 Covid-19 Vaccination Drive Begins In Several States; Check Details Here outlookindia.com 2021-01-17T01:26:48+05:30
NEW DELHI: For Biji Tomy, a nurse who received the very first Covid-19 vaccine shot at the LNJP Hospital here on Saturday, it was a historic moment that helped her leave behind the unpleasant memories of her colleagues being harassed and taunted as potential coronavirus carriers in the early days of the pandemic.
Hailing from Kerala, the 48-year-old healthcare worker at the state-run facility told PTI, When the pandemic outbreak happened in Delhi in March, everyone was afraid and uncertain about the future, and many doctors and nurses had to face harassment and taunts from neighbours in the initial days as potential carriers of infection , and some landlords had threatened to evict them.