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By Krishna N. Das and Mayank Bhardwaj
NEW DELHI, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Hospital cleaning worker
Manish Kumar became the first person in India to be vaccinated
against COVID-19 on Saturday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi
launched one of the world's largest immunisation campaigns to
bring the pandemic under control.
Kumar received his shot at Delhi's premier All-India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), one of 3,006 vaccination
centres established around the country.
"The vaccine will give me strength and motivation to serve
my hospital which has been at the forefront of taking care of
coronavirus patients," Kumar said. "Since I'm feeling relieved
after taking the vaccine, I think everyone should go for it."
India is prioritising nurses, doctors and other frontline
workers, and Modi had tears in his eyes as he addressed
healthcare workers via video conferencing.
"The disease separated people from their families, kept
mothers away from their children, and those who died of the
disease couldn't even get a final goodbye from their families,"
Modi said.
AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria and V.K. Paul, a top COVID-19
adviser to Modi, were also given the shots in the presence of
Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan.
The government is calling its immunisation campaign the
biggest in the world and hopes around 300,600 people will be
vaccinated on the first day - a first step in administering
around 300 million people with two doses in the first six to
eight months of the year.
With a population of nearly 1.4 billion people, India is the
world's most populous country after China. Some 10.5 million
people in India have been infected with the coronavirus, the
highest number of infections after the United States, and more
than 151,000 have died, though infection rate has come down from
a peak in mid-September.
India is using the Oxford University/AstraZeneca
vaccine and a government-backed vaccine developed by India's
Bharat Biotech whose efficacy is not yet known. People will not
be able to choose which of the vaccines - both of which are
being produced locally - that they get.
First in line are some 30 million health and other frontline
workers, such as those in sanitation and security, followed by
about 270 million people older than 50 or deemed high-risk
because of pre-existing medical conditions.
The government has already bought 11 million doses of the
AstraZeneca COVISHIELD shot, produced by the Serum Institute of
India, and 5.5 million of Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN.
COVISHIELD is 72% effective, according to the Indian drug
regulator, while Bharat Biotech says COVAXIN's last-stage trial
results are expected by March.
While nationalist politicians are cheering COVAXIN, some
health experts consider it rushed, as the vaccine has only
limited, "clinical-trial mode" approval.
In addition to efficacy concerns, the close monitoring
required for its use will be a massive challenge.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Mayank Bhardwaj
Additional reporting by Rupam Jain, Devjyot Ghoshal, Amit Dave
and Adnan Abidi
Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Frances Kerry)
Astrazeneca (AZN)