Bollywood actor Sonu Sood on Wednesday took the first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Apollo Hospital in Amritsar, Punjab. Along with getting vaccinated against the deadly infection, the actor also launched 'Sanjeevani - A Shot of Life', an initiative to encourage people to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus and raising awareness about the inoculation drive in the country. The actor also spoke at the launch of the initiative aimed at creating and increasing awareness about vaccination against COVID-19.Speaking about the initiative, Sonu said, "I wanted to start this drive because I feel it is very important to bring that awareness among people who are still thinking whether they should get vaccinated or not. Family members should push their elder ones, people who are eligible to get vaccinated. It will only help them survive the times we are facing in the near future."
He added, "We are doing this in many districts and a lot of villages in Punjab and different states. The awareness is not much and they still have double thoughts whether they should get vaccinated or not. That's why I wanted to get vaccinated in front of everyone and send the message across that don't think twice. We will get a lot of camps done. This is a movement that we are trying to start to increase awareness." The initiative is a CSR drive that intends to reach Indian citizens with relevant information about the COVID-19 vaccine. Sonu also interacted with first Recipient of the vaccine, Manish Kumar on his experience on getting the vaccine and why it was important for him to get vaccinated. An excited Manish Kumar talked of how his colleagues were hesitant of taking the vaccine and how Kumar came forward before the medical crew and shared his joy of being the first beneficiary of the life saving vaccine against coronavirus. Sonu is the latest Indian film celebrity to be vaccinated after Malaika Arora, Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Hema Malini, Mohanlal, Jeetendra, Kamal Haasan, Nagarjuna, Rohit Shetty, Neena Gupta, Rakesh Roshan, and Johnny Lever.