Prime Minister Narendra Modi too took his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at AIIMS today as India opened up the second phase of the inoculation drive for senior citizens and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Monday declared that the entire state of Bihar will be vaccinated against Coronavirus at no cost.
Addressing reporters, Kumar said the vaccine will be made available for free even at private hospitals, adding that the whole exercise will be facilitated by the state government. “The state will bear the expenses, in case of those who
get the jabs at any of the designated private hospitals,” he said.
On a day when the Chief Minister turned 70, he also received his first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at IGIMS hospital in Patna in presence of Health minister Mangal Pandey and further appealed to the people that they do not let their guard down in the wake of COVID-19 active cases coming down drastically in the state, and continue to practice social distancing and wearing of masks.
He also said arrangements have been made at the state-run super specialty hospital for inoculation of all members of the
state legislature.
“Initially it was proposed that MLAs and MLCs be given the jabs at the Vidhan Sabha premises itself. But, since better
logistics are available here, they will be requested to take the shots here”, Kumar said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his first dose of the vaccine at AIIMS, Delhi this morning as India kicked off the second phase of the inoculation drive for senior citizens and those aged 45 and above with comorbidities.
After taking the shot, Modi appealed to all those who are eligible to get inoculated to make India coronavirus-free.
The Centre had announced last Wednesday that the vaccine will be administered for free at government facilities and for Rs 250 per dose at select private hospitals.
Citizens will be able to register and book an appointment for vaccination using the Co-WIN 2.0 portal and the Aarogya Setu app. There is also a ‘walk-in’ provision for the beneficiaries to get themselves registered at the nearest vaccine center.
Apart from the Prime Minister, several other leaders including Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu took the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
India’s COVID-19 tally surpassed 1.11 crore on Monday with 15,510 new infections, while the active cases registered an increase for the fifth consecutive day and were recorded at 1,68,627, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The total coronavirus cases reached 1,11,12,241 in the country, while the death toll rose to 1,57,157 with 106 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am on Monday showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,07,86,457, which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.07 per cent, it stated. The case fatality rate has dropped to 1.41 per cent.
With PTI inputs
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