President Kovind takes first dose of COVID-19 vaccine
President Ram Nath Kovind took the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday. According to the details, the president was vaccinated at Delhi's RR Hospital. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had received the first dose of coronavirus vaccine at Delhi's AIIMS, thus, leading a chain of prominent names taking the vaccine shot. Until Tuesday, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses given in the country had crossed 1.54 crore which includes 6,09,845 shots administered, the Union Health Ministry said in its provisional data.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) being inoculated against the virus. Vaccination of the frontline workers (FLWs) started on February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
Meanwhile, India, which has shipped critical supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to nations globally, has said it stands ready to work with the United Nations and its agencies to ensure the doses are delivered to people of Syria facing a “dire” situation compounded by the pandemic, winterisation and food insecurity.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly high-level panel on the human rights situation in Syria on Tuesday, India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu said India continues to stand with the people of Syria in the grave hour of need.
India has extended 12 million dollars in humanitarian assistance through bilateral and multilateral channels and last July, more than 10 MT (metric tonnes) of medical supplies have been delivered to help Syria cope with the pandemic.
Earlier this month, more than 2000 MT of food supplies were delivered.
