Sanitation worker first person to receive Covid-19 vaccine in India

A sanitation worker in All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi today became India's first person to be administered the first of the two-dose Covid-19 vaccine during the launch of the nationwide vaccination programme.

As people around applauded the worker Manish Kumar, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria also received a shot of the Covaxin vaccine, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Serum Institute of India, which manufactured Covishield, also got the first dose of the vaccine in Pune.

"I was never reluctant to take the vaccine. People should not be worried about the shot," the first recipient Manish told TV channels.

Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who was present when Manish Kumar and Randeep Guleria were vaccinated, said the two vaccines -- indigenous Covaxin from Bharat Biotech and Covishield from Oxford-AstraZeneca -- were "sanjivani" (life-giving)  in the fight against the pandemic.

"These vaccines are our sanjivani in fight against the pandemic. We have won the battle against polio and now we have reached the decisive phase of winning the war against Covid. I want to congratulate all frontline workers on this day," Vardhan told reporters.

The second dose of the vaccine will be given after 28 days and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while launching the vaccine rollout, asked the beneficiaries of the first shot, not to miss the second one.