Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy kicks off statewide Covid vaccination programme

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy kickstarted the statewide Coronavirus vaccination programme on Saturday from Vijayawada.

He started it at the government general hospital (GGH) in Vijayawada, where he personally observed a frontline worker receiving the vaccine.

"Across the state, 3.87 lakh people have been scheduled to receive the vaccine shot at 332 centres," said an official statement.

The state government has shipped the vaccine shots to all the districts from the central storage warehouse at Gannavaram near Vijayawada.

B. Pushpa Kumari, working as a sweeper in the health department received the first Covishield vaccine shot, made by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India.

Later, Reddy personally observed a nurse, Ch. Naga Jyothi, being administered the vaccine.

After Jyothi, operation theatre assistant P. Jayakumar, general physician L. Pranitha and B. Basaveshwar received the vaccine shots.

In Vizianagaram district, Municipal Minister Botsca Satyanarayana launched the vaccination programme in the presence of local MLA Kolagotla Veera Bhadra Swamy, district collector M. Hari Jawaharlal and other officials.

Satyanarayana said vaccination will start at all Assembly constituencies in Vizianagaram from Saturday.

In the first phase, 26,000 frontline works discharging duties at government and private hospitals will receive the vaccine.

As many as 15 hospitals have started the vaccination drive in the north Andhra district.