Press "Enter" to skip to content

TN Health Minister Vijayabaskar gets Covaxin shot in Chennai

On Wednesday, the Minister announced that he would be “taking the vaccine not as a minister but as a doctor and a member of the Indian Medical Association.”

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar received a shot of Covaxin at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai on Friday morning. Being a doctor and a member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), he stated that he took the vaccine to instill confidence among health workers. On Wednesday, the Minister announced that he would be “taking the vaccine not as a minister but as a doctor and a member of IMA,” responding to questions about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.

Covaxin is manufactured by Bharat Biotech and its usage has been mired in controversy over the lack of data from its phase three trials and unpublished results on its efficacy. The Minister stated that Tamil Nadu had received 5.36 lakh Covishield vaccines and 20,000 Covaxin shots in Chennai.

He added, “On Wednesday, the Union government sent another 5.85 lakh Covishield vaccines which reached Chennai airport.” He also inspected the vaccines that had arrived.   Tamil Nadu’s Health Secretary Dr. J Radhakrishnan had also received a shot of Covaxin on January 17 in Trichy to increase the confidence of frontline health workers to become a part of the vaccine drive.

However, there have been concerns about the safety of the vaccine among political leaders across the state. KS Alagiri, the president of Tamil Nadu Congress requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to receive the vaccine to reassure citizens to receive the vaccine as well.  VCK Chief Thol. Thirumavalavan requested the Tamil Nadu government to avoid the use of Covaxin as it had not yet submitted the data from the third phase of its trials.

The Tamil Nadu state government stated that 6 lakh frontline workers have been identified to receive the vaccine during the first leg of the drive and 25,908 of them have been administered the vaccine as of January 19.

Source: The News Minute