Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana January 16 Putting to rest the rumours surrounding the Covid vaccine and to inculcate the spirit of enthusiasm among the healthcare workers all senior doctors got themselves vaccinated first at the five designated vaccination sites in the district as part of the Covid vaccination drive that kick-started in the district today. There were three centres in the city which included Civil Hospital Dayanand Medical College and Hospital Christian Medical College and Hospital and two outside the city limits including Civil Hospital Khanna and Civil Hospital Jagraon where vaccination was carried out. The arrangements to vaccinate 100 healthcare workers were made at each centre on the first day of the drive. Hussan Lal health secretary visited the Civil Hospital and the DMCH and inquired about the drive and health of those who were under observation. A total of 214 persons were vaccinated in the district on Saturday against the target of 500.The delay in starting the drive at the Civil Hospital and issues in the web portal were the major reasons behind less numbers. The drive will be streamlined from Monday and we are hopeful to achieve the targets said Civil Surgeon Dr Sukhjeevan Kakkar. At the Civil Hospital Dr Harpreet Bains pulmonary medicine specialist at the DMCH Dr Bishav Mohan medical superintendent Hero DMC Heart Institute at the CMCH principal CMC Dr Jeyaraj Pandian were the first persons to receive the first covaxin vaccine jab at these centres. At Jagraon SMO Dr Pardeep Mohindra and at Khanna retired SMO Dr Rajinder Gulati received the first jab. Dr Harpreet Bains after receiving the first jab of the vaccine at the Civil Hospital said he was feeling proud to receive the first shot. Dr Bains along with his wife has been at the forefront in the fight against Covid. Dr Harpreets wife Dr Aman had tested positive for Covid in the past and will be receiving the vaccine in the coming days. “I appeal to everyone that they should get themselves vaccinated and not pay heed to the rumours doing rounds. I did not feel any pain while receiving the dose” he said. Dr Bishav Mohan said he was feeling as normal as earlier after receiving the vaccine. It looks like a normal vaccine he said. “After sitting in the observation room for half an hour I have done two procedures and now I am going for the third. There is nothing to worry and one can start doing his/her work after half an hour and everyone should go for the vaccine” he said. CMC Principal Dr Jeyaraj Pandian said he had been reading a lot about the vaccine in the past few days. “Every vaccine has its side-effects but the one I received today was simple and I am feeling as normal as earlier. The dose is just of 0.5 ml and hence very small” he said. Technical issues in portal Technical issues and network connectivity problems were faced with the CoWIN portal at the DMCH for a few minutes and at the Civil Hospital for nearly half an hour. It is required to upload data on the portal to register and generate an OTP. Dr Pardeep Mohindra said he was feeling on top of the world after receiving the vaccine. “After sitting in observation room for half an hour I continued my duties as normal. I faced no issue and I am feeling absolutely normal” he said. Dr Rajinder Gulati who last month retired as Senior Medical Officer from the Civil Hospital Khanna and received the first jab at Khanna said he was feeling as normal as before and there was no pain or body aches and he was feeling perfectly normal. Vaccination begins late at Civil Hospital The vaccination drive started late at Civil Hospital. The time to start the drive was 11.30 am but it started at 1 pm. Video conferencing by Punjab CM for the launch of the vaccination drive and Ghar Ghar Rozgar and Karobar Mission was being attended by chief guest MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu due to which he arrived late at the Civil Hospital which caused delay in the start of the drive. The drive was started on time at other sites. ASHA workers seek payment The Accredited Social Health Activists and Facilitator Union throughout the state boycotted the Covid vaccination. “We have been working on the frontline all the time. During the time of emergency we always stand tall but when it comes to payment we are not paid accordingly and we have not even received the payments for our Covid duties. We have long pending demands which the government is not accepting for long. We will not be getting vaccinated till our demands are met” said Kirandeep Kaur president ASHA Workers Union.

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