The Government of India launched the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination drive on Saturday on a massive scale, in 3,006 centres across the country, in which healthcare workers, sanitation staff and others who were engaged in the pandemic duty, were administered with Covaxin and Covishield vaccines developed in India. However, not all the registered beneficiaries were given the vaccine. Some of the beneficiaries who contracted the virus recently, were asked to get re-registered for the second phase of the vaccination programme. The government has planned to vaccinate the beneficiaries, who are the frontline workers, in a phased manner.
According to health officials, the beneficiaries who contracted the virus recently are eligible to take the jab only 28 days later, after testing negative for coronavirus.
As per the Union Health Ministry protocol, all the COVID-19 survivors are eligible to take the vaccine. And they do not have any special precautions to follow.
Before administering the vaccine, the health officials at the vaccine centres are taking a note of the medical history of the beneficiaries along with other requisite information to monitor them.
D Latha, an ASHA worker from Hyderabad, who had tested positive for coronavirus in August, said, “The authorities are aware of my medical history. During the orientation during the dry run, we were not given any special instructions.” Latha, was administered with Covishield vaccine on the inaugural day in Narsingi Rural Health Centre, and did not suffer any side-effects.
“I am very happy about getting vaccinated today. The past 10 months were challenging to say the least. I am highly optimistic about the vaccine,” Latha shared.
Similarly, Aswathy Rajan, a nurse from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala got her vaccination on Saturday and said that she too did not get any special instructions or guidelines from the health authorities. Aswathy got infected with the virus in September and recovered from it.
“I felt mild uneasiness after taking the vaccine and also pain in my hand. But everything was normal after 20 minutes of receiving the vaccine. I am normal now,” Aswathy said.
The beneficiaries would be under mandatory observation for 30 minutes after the inoculation, to monitor their health.
Thirty-year-old Kandula Maria, 30, staff nurse from Vijayawada GGH shared, “I tested positive for coronavirus three months ago. I was the third person to get the vaccine today. Before getting it, I panicked a bit. But after taking it, there's no pain, it doesn't even feel like a tetanus shot. I did not feel any change. No rash or giddiness or fever. Typically, such side effects are visible within 30 minutes, but I don't feel anything like that.”
To avail the vaccine, the beneficiaries had to enlist themselves on the session site developed by the Health ministry, through their mobile phones. Aadhar card, driving license, PAN card, passport and other identification documents are required for the registration.
Speaking to TNM, Director of Medical Education Dr Ramesh Reddy said, “As per the Government of India guidelines, all the COVID-19 survivors should get vaccinated. They would not have any immunity against the virus even if they had been previously infected with the virus.”