Life has come to a standstill due the ongoing pandemic COVID 19. But with the first day of vaccination it is being hoped that people will gradually get back the lost momentum of life and living behind the ‘New Normal’ all can get into ‘normal’ lifestyle.
West Bengal Labour Minister and a doctor Nirmal Maji was seen taking vaccine at Kolkata Medical College.
Talking to Free Press Journal, Maji said that since he is a doctor for which he had the liberty to get vaccinated on the very first day.
Asked about protocols that have to be adhered before getting vaccinated to which Maji said that there is no special protocol that one has to follow before getting vaccinated.
“Today is a big day for us. It seems we are slowly coming out of the pandemic. After the vaccination everyone is being monitored for half an hour to see whether the person is developing any side effects, otherwise there are no other measures. The first seven days after vaccination is very important,” mentioned Maji.
Asked about which vaccine is better Covisheild by Oxford or Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, to which Maji replied that Covishield by Oxford has been sent to West Bengal and assuring that Covishield doesn’t have any side effects, Maji confirmed that he has been vaccinated with Covishield.
Raghunath Mishra, Medical Superintendent-cum-Vice Principal of SSKM mentioned that he along with a team of six doctors is monitoring the process of vaccination.
“We have dedicated six booths where 100 people in each booth can be vaccinated each day, but for today we are running only one booth. We are preserving the vaccine vials in a cold chain system at four to eight degrees in the vaccine carrier with extra ice bags inside the carrier which is changed after six to eight hours,” claimed Mishra.
Saying that Covishield is a better option, Mishra also confirmed that it has no side-effects.
“We have kept specialized doctors at the site of vaccination and in case of any emergency the specialists will address it immediately. We have also kept several beds empty to admit the patient if necessary. We are not pushing the vaccines on those who have even slightest symptoms of COVID 19,” mentioned Mishra.
The vaccination programme started around 10.30 am at 212 session sites across West Bengal including medical colleges, urban primary healthcare centres and a few private hospitals and Bipasha Seth is the first person who got vaccinated at a private hospital. Around 90,000 frontline health workers are shortlisted to get a vaccine on the first day.
Notably the first coronavirus in West Bengal’s Kolkata was detected on March 17 2020 after an 18 year old student returned from the United Kingdom and the first COVID 19 death was of a 57 hears old man on March 23.
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