BJP workers in Maharashtra celebrated and burned an effigy of coronavirus in Ghatkopar area of Mumbai as the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination drive begins.
The COVID-19 vaccination drive began in Maharashtra on Saturday along with the rest of the country. Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar, Dean, JJ Hospital, in Mumbai and Dr Padmaja Saraf were among the first beneficiaries to receive the vaccine shots in Mumbai and at Jalna civil hospital, respectively.
The inoculation drive is taking place at 285 centres in Maharashtra where 100 healthcare workers will be administered the shots in a day, and cover 28,500 workers, an official said.
The state has received 9.63 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 20,000 doses of Covaxin vaccine, which have been distributed to all the districts.
At JJ Hospital in Mumbai, a doctor didn't take the vaccine dose as had developed some allergy in his eyes on Saturday, which is not related to inoculation, doctors said.
The drugs regulatory body of India has currently approved two vaccines. Pune-based Serum Institute of India has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad's Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.